Utah Governor announces change to allow Salt Lake City schools to offer in-person classes

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Governor Gary Herbert ordered the reopening of K-12 schools in the state this fall, and on Thursday announced a change to the state’s risk guidelines that will allow Salt Lake City schools to join them.

Salt Lake City remains orange, a moderate risk level, meaning its schools would be taught only online.

But Herbert said at the press conference Thursday: “We are going to make a change to the orange guidelines for the Salt Lake City School District, so that they too can open up and have the same opportunities as the other county schools.”

The surrounding Salt Lake County is on the yellow or low risk level.

Lexi Cunningham, director of the Utah State Association of Superintendents, said that “each district and each school is different in how they have approached the construction of their plan” to safely reopen this fall.

“Some districts are looking for combined models” of online and in-person teaching, listening to teachers and thinking about families and parents, he said. A district has had 13 focus groups, he said.

Herbert said he hoped that students who got sick would have leeway with attending school. Cunningham said such problems would be addressed by school districts as they write their plans.

Last week, Herbert issued a mandate requiring all students and staff to cover their faces.

“Masks will be provided for all of our students so that they have access to face covers when they come to school,” he said Thursday.

Its mask-for-schools mandate was largely met with applause from teachers and parents who say they feel it will keep those inside the schools safe and delay the spread of the virus.

But some have protested since then. In Utah county, more than 150 residents protested the requirement Wednesday at a commission meeting, saying they should have the option of choosing whether or not their children wear a mask. A father said he would remove his children from school if the state does not lift its edict. One mother called the mandate “strenuous, dominant, and dystopian.” Others suggested that she was trampling on her constitutional rights.

Commenting on that meeting, Herbert said: “We understand that people have different points of view.”

But referring to the generally unmasked crowd, Herbert said: “Experts will tell us it is a silly action.”

Although he understands the anger in that crowd, he said, “There is a better way to dialogue with the leaders.”

He added: “We all have the same goal, for the same result,” to stop the virus and “bring the economy back to normal.”

Before Utah’s K-12 schools reopen next month, each district must offer ways to accommodate online learning students if they are in high-risk groups (who could get sicker if they get the virus) or become feel uncomfortable when they return to the classroom. Furthermore, there are strict requirements for social distancing and sanitation.

Desks should be at least 6 feet apart, state leaders say, something that isn’t always feasible with large Utah classes, so the state board’s written guidelines suggest that students feel “as far apart as is reasonably possible”.

The masks are meant to help slow the spread of the virus, as well as ensuring that schools do not have to close again.