Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced April 9 that all of Alaska’s public and private K-12th grade schools will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year in order to protect students and the general public from the spread of COVID-19.
Student learning will continue through distance and home education during this time.
“The reason for this is we don’t know what this virus is going to do,” Dunleavy said during his daily press briefing. He added that it would “cause more disruptions, more confusion” by waiting to make the decision later towards the very end of the academic year.
According to the new mandate, the state will consider later this month whether to allow for small groups of students to meet in person with teachers for final student conferences before the end of the year.
The mandate also instructs districts to contemplate how to “properly celebrate this year’s graduates” without gathering for physical graduation ceremonies.
