With the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District school year set to begin Monday for all but a few smaller, remote communities, the district’s director of communications urged patience and communication as the keys for education during the new coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re opening a school year unlike any school year we’ve ever had before,” Pegge Erkeneff, director of communications, community and government relations for the district, said. “Please reach out to schools and staff with what you need. Help get the school year off to a good start in spite of the challenges we are already facing.”

Tuesday, the district announced central peninsula schools would not open to on-site learning. A surge of positive tests for COVID-19 on the central peninsula put the area at high-risk level, triggering the change.

Through Saturday, the central peninsula had 71 cases in the last 14 days. Central peninsula hits high-risk level at 52 cases in 14 days.

Kindergarten, special education pre-K, Title I pre-K and certain groups of students in special education will still attend school in person on the central peninsula.

All other schools in the district — southern peninsula, eastern peninsula and remote communities — are at low-risk level and will do on-site learning Monday.

“We wanted to open school to on-site, in-person learning,” Erkeneff said. “That’s what we heard from a survey of parents. They wanted their kids in school.

“We worked this summer on a mitigation plan to make it happen. Unfortunately, the community risk level jumped up.”

In a Tuesday press release, John O’Brien, superintendent, said if central peninsula risk levels move back to medium, central peninsula schools can open to on-site learning on Sept. 8. No matter what happens with the numbers of positive cases, central peninsula schools will not open before then.

Erkeneff said this is not a replay of March, when schools were suddenly shut down due to the new coronavirus, forcing district and staff to quickly develop a plan to educate students remotely.

“We’ve learned a lot since March, April and May,” Erkeneff said. “We’ve known all along through our Smart Start plan, there’s a possibility at anytime a school, community or region could bump into high risk.”

Tuesday’s move to close central peninsula schools to on-site learning also triggers a change in the Get it and Go Meals plan for students, according to a press release from the district.

When schools are open to in-person learning, students can still opt for 100% remote learning and those students pick up meals once a week from 10 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Students can order up to five breakfasts and lunches per week.

When schools are closed to in-person learning, pickup for meals shifts to each day from noon to 1 p.m. for all students, except for Connections Homeschool students. Those students are not eligible for the meals program.

Another major difference in schools closed due to high-risk status is that meals are free to all enrolled students. When schools are open, meals are charged to students based on their meals status of free, reduced or paid.

Students must sign up for Get It and Go Meals by noon Friday for pickup the following week. The link for signup is available at kpbsd.org, or those without internet can call Student Nutrition Services at 907-714-8890.

The signup process will take those enrolling through a menu of schools that are distributing meals.

Pickup will be curbside. If the student is not present, the student’s ID is necessary for pickup. No special dietary substitutions are being accommodated.

The district encourages frequent hand-washing, cloth face coverings and keeping a distance of 6 feet from others when picking up meals.

“Student Nutrition Services has been planning for his all summer long — for what would happen if we go to high risk,” Erkeneff said.