Update, 3:52 p.m. Tuesday:
The Juneau School District is canceling all extracurricular and school-sponsored events Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to a district press release, this includes the first day of school for high school freshmen at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé scheduled for tomorrow.
The district is also closing Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen Elementary School, Mendenhall River Community School and Thunder Mountain Middle School at 4 p.m. today until the City and Borough of Juneau issues an all clear. District administrators and staff are working in the buildings until the closure.
The district has not yet made a decision on closing schools on Thursday. It will make an announcement by Wednesday at noon. If any schools need to close, the district will close all campuses.
The district will continue to update families through automated calls, texts, emails, the Juneau Schools app and the district website.
Update, 10:45 a.m. Tuesday:
The Juneau School District will make a decision on closing schools by Wednesday at noon. Superintendent Frank Hauser said during a press conference Tuesday the district is requesting families update their contact information in PowerSchool to ensure they receive the most up-to-date information from the district.
Original story:
With school set to begin on Thursday, the Juneau School District announced Monday that it plans to close all schools this week if any campuses are impacted by glacial outburst flooding.
The glacial lake that releases water annually is full. That means the Mendenhall River could flood at any time this week, but it’s not clear exactly when that will happen.
Three schools in the Mendenhall Valley – Kax̲dig̲oowu Héen Elementary School, Mendenhall River Community School and Thunder Mountain Middle School – could experience flooding.
At a press conference Monday, Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said one of the reasons for closing all schools is because of district staff who may live in the flood zone.
“They have teachers, and they have staff that are in that flood inundation, that are going to be in that 17-foot impact area that we’ll be recommending an evacuation for,” he said. “From their point of view, [it’s] hard to operate the rest of the district when their faculty, when their staff, are potentially impacted.”
In an email to KTOO, Juneau School District Chief of Staff Kristin Bartlett wrote additional road congestion from school related traffic and road closures cutting off people returning home as other reasons for the plan.
In a press release, the district said it plans to announce any closures before the school day begins if possible. But it’s also prepared to evacuate schools as needed.
Students and staff will move to a safe location outside of the evacuation zone. Only guardians and emergency contacts listed in PowerSchool will be able to pick up students.
Students who take the bus and live in the evacuation zone may also be taken to a different location for pickup if they attend a school outside of the flood zone. Photo ID is required to pick up students.
The district’s website has information on flood procedures. District leadership says families can receive updates through the Juneau Schools app. The district will also email updates to families through its Blackboard communications system.
