To prevent the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the State of Alaska is issuing its thirteenth health mandate based on its authority under the Public Health Disaster Emergency Declaration signed by Governor Mike Dunleavy on March 11, 2020.

This mandate is issued to protect the public health of Alaskans and mitigate the impact of COVID-19. The goal is to flatten the curve and disrupt the spread of the virus.

Health Mandate 013 – K-12 Public and Private Schools

The statewide school closure of all K-12 public and private schools is being extended from May 1, 2020 to the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Despite the need to extend school building closures, student learning will continue, per each school district’s individual plan, to provide distance-delivered educational services to students.

It is recognized that this difficult decision ends the school year with students physically separated from their teachers. Incident Command will reconvene later this month to consider whether the state’s health outlook will safely allow for small groups of students to meet with their teachers in-person for final student conferences before the end of the school year. This option, if allowed, will be dependent upon the coordination of each school district.

As school districts contemplate how to properly celebrate this year’s graduates, COVID-19 Health Mandate 011 – Social Distancing is still in effect, which prohibits gathering for events, such as graduation.

This mandate supersedes COVID-19 Health Mandate 008.

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