Washington County School Board approves plan to reopen schools, teachers union disagrees
Terell Wilkins
St. George Spectrum & Daily News
The Washington County School Board voted unanimously to enact the official plan for students to return to school late Monday, just as Utah's largest union of teachers announced opposition to reopening on the regular schedule this fall.
The school board has been meeting each of the last three weeks to come up with guidelines for the county to reopen its schools.
Monday's meeting was slated to be when the school board collectively voted on whether to approve or deny their proposed plan.
Board Superintendent Larry Bergeson spoke about the reopening plan and explained how the school board came to the decisions they landed on.
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Bergeson confirmed that students will be required to wear masks, but that the situation is fluid and may be subject to change.
Monday's meeting also included a public hearing where county residents could share their thoughts on required face coverings and other facets of the proposed plan.
WCSD reopening plan
Schools are set to reopen on August 13 for in-person school on a traditional schedule from Monday through Friday. Friday will be an early release day for all K-12 students for deep cleaning and staff training.
On Fridays, intermediate schools will dismiss at 11:45 a.m., middle and high school will dismiss at 12:30 p.m. and elementary schools will dismiss at 1:15 p.m.
Face coverings are required for all staff and students, with the exception of those that have qualifying health conditions.
Parents and students will have options for both in-person or virtual at-home learning and there is a "blended in-person/virtual combination" option where students can do both depending on qualifying health conditions.
On buses to and from school, students and all bus drivers must be wearing face coverings. In the classrooms, teachers are also required to wear face coverings and sanitize or wash their hands frequently.
At lunch, students will have to wear their face coverings while in line and will be physically distanced as much as possible. Elementary lunch will be scheduled by grade level and tables will be sanitized between each use for all grade levels.
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Students exhibiting symptoms that include coughing, fever, chills, muscle pain and sore throat are urged to stay home as facilities will be cleaned and sanitized every day with a deep cleaning each Friday.
As of Monday, all UHSAA sports will be continued as scheduled and spectators will be required to physically distanced or wear face coverings outside and inside.
UEA response
On Tuesday, the Utah Education Association responded to school reopening plans across the state with a statement urging continued distance learning until COVID-19 cases decline.
Teachers across the state are concerned about their personal health, as well as the health of the students and their families.
Pointing to the number of positive COVID-19 cases, UEA president Heidi Matthews said that opening schools now could cause avoidable danger.
"Up until now, Utah has faced a choice between two bad options -- either return to in-person learning and put our students, educators and communities at risk or temporarily return to a distance learning and virtual instruction model," Matthews said in the statement. "Given the state's rising number of positive coronavirus cases, this is no longer a choice. We simply cannot unnecessarily risk lives by opening schools too soon."
Earlier this month, Gov. Gary Herbert announced Utah will require masks in schools, but has not yet made wearing face coverings mandatory in public across the state.
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More than 38,000 cases of the virus have been reported in Utah, and over 280 people have died, according to state data. The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
"The reality is that, with few exceptions, we are nowhere near containing the spread of this virus," Matthews said. "Current school district plans, no matter how robust, simply cannot sufficiently ensure the health and safety of our students, educators and families in communities where the virus continues to spread unchecked."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Follow reporter Terell Wilkins on Twitter, @terelljwilkins, call him at 252-367-8463 or email him at twilkins@thespectrum.com.