The Juneau School District plans to close at least two schools to remove snow on the buildings’ roofs following recent record-breaking snowstorms.
The district closed Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley Elementary first and reopened the rest of its schools Wednesday, following district-wide closures Monday and Tuesday.
During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Juneau Assistant City Manager Robert Barr said a team of engineers determined the elementary school needs to be shoveled first.
“We started there due to pre-existing damage that we knew about at that facility that made us more concerned for them,” he said.
Barr said the city contracted with a 25-person, out-of-state team to work on the school.
As of Wednesday, the district says no school is above its load capacity based on measurements taken. Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx – Glacier Valley will remain closed for the rest of this week.
Mendenhall River Community School is next in line for shoveling.
Though most schools are open, Superintendent Frank Hauser said students will be excused if they can’t attend school due to unsafe weather conditions.
“Even when schools are open, you know the conditions in your immediate neighborhood and are the best judge of whether or not to send your child to school,” he said.
With parking limited at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé, the district encourages high school students to take the school bus or public transit to school. Students also have the option to park at Thunder Mountain Middle School and take a school bus in.
School buses will be running snow routes all week, the district says, and will not be going to trailer parks due to conditions.
