School district risk levels remain high

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District has mitigation plans in place for what will happen with in-person education when different regions of the peninsula are in low, medium and high-risk levels. Those plans can be found here: kpbsd.k12.ak.us/content.aspx?id=41923

Regions of the Kenai Peninsula are put into low, medium or high-risk categories based on the number of new cases of COVID-19 identified in the regions over a 14-day period. This model is based on rates of cases per 100,000 population.

Susan B. English School, which had gone to 100% remote learning status after cases were identified in the community of Seldovia, returned to in-person learning on Monday.

Remote learning status had been extended for all schools on the central, eastern and southern peninsula through at least this Friday.

As of Wednesday, the southern peninsula (from Ninilchik south) was in the high risk category with 49 new cases in the last 14 days. The southern peninsula is in low risk if it has had zero to 9 new cases in the last 14 days, is in medium risk if there have been 10 to 19 new cases in the last 14 days, and would go into high risk if there were 20 or more new cases in the last 14 days.

The central peninsula, including Kenai, Nikiski, Soldotna, Sterling and Kasilof, was also at high risk as of Wednesday, with 472 new cases over the last 14 days.

The eastern peninsula (Seward and Moose Pass) was also at high risk Wednesday with 20 new cases of COVID-19 within the last 14 days.

As of Wednesday, the rural communities within the school district were at low risk. That category includes Nanwalek School, Port Graham School and Susan B. English School in Seldovia across Kachemak Bay, as well as Cooper Landing School, Hope School, and Tebughna School.