COVID-19

Well, it has been a long time since I have entered anything into this blog.

Let's start this one with when I flew into Anchorage for a doctor's visit on March 13th. I got into Anchorage and learned on the evening news that Alaska was closing down due to COVID-19.

The 13th for our school was an in-service day and the next Monday was a holiday because it was the end of our third quarter. Therefore, our students left school thinking that they were getting a four-day weekend only to find out they would not be returning to school for who knew how long. I flew back into Nightmute on Wednesday the 18th and just a few days later the village completely closed down. The only people allowed in or out of the village were tribal members. If I hadn't flown in when I did, I would not have been allowed back in for a minimum of 14 days. 

The teachers and I have been looking up lesson plans and sending them home on Mondays and hopefully be getting them back sometime during the week or at the very latest Friday. A few students are managing to do that but there are also quite a few students who see it as the end of school and that they don't need to do any more work. The district decided that K-8 students will get three different grades: no basis, which means they haven't turned any work into grade, a past, or a fail grade. Are high school students will get a choice of doing all the work, actually getting a grade or doing what they can and go for a pass-fail grade.

Our cooks are having to prepare breakfast and lunch every day, which we hand out at lunchtime. We have a member, from each family, come to the school and pick up the entire family's meals. It was just decided earlier this week that we also will now start providing breakfast and lunch for  Saturday and Sunday. Those meals will be handed out with Friday’s meal. 

Another part of this saga is our secondary math/science teacher for this year resigned and left the middle of February. We have been attempting to get a replacement. One was found and flew into Bethel on March 18th. The Village demanded that she be placed in quarantine in Bethel for two weeks. When those two weeks were up they wouldn't let her in because she wasn't a tribal member. This became a constant battle until just last week. The administrator of the tribe, who is not a tribal member, kept telling me no she could not come in. I called the tribal board members to see what their opinion was. I was able to contact three members and they voted yes, she can come in. The administrator says he talked to all six of the council members and 3 voted yes, three voted no, and so he flipped a coin and the result was no she cannot come in. I was so upset that I texted the six board members and asked them to come to the school or to call into a 5:30 meeting last Thursday the 16th. I received word a couple of them said they would not be in town and would not come to the meeting. This upset me so I sent out another text that said, “We are paying a teacher to sit in Bethel and do nothing, while our students are failing math and will have to repeat the entire course next year. Obviously, our student’s education is of no concern to some people in this community.” Within 10 minutes I got a call from the administrator informing me that she would be allowed into the village. And wouldn't you know it, the weather was horrible for Friday and Saturday so she could not fly in at all until Monday. on Monday, it was foggy in Bethel until the last flight of the day. I was thrilled to get noticed that she was on the plane and on her way.

Since we have to have Tribal permission to fly in and out of the village, everyone's concern now is will they be allowed to leave the Village on May 19th. That is not my concern. I'm quite sure they will let us out. My concern is will they let us back in? Will we have to go into quarantine? If so, where will it take place? No one will be able to afford hotels in Bethel. Will the village be forced to allow the teachers into the village and then place them on quarantine? Will the district have the teacher show up two weeks early so they can be in quarantine the two weeks before school is officially starting or will they postpone the starting of the school for two weeks so the teachers can be in quarantine at that time?

It's all a big mystery that we do not have the answers to it this time. I'll let you know what the results are. in the meantime, all of you stay safe and well.