Davis School District updates fall plan to both in-home and in-school

FARMINGTON, Utah — The Davis School District has announced an update to their plans to reopen this fall, opting for an every-other-day schedule in order to reduce the number of students in the classroom.

In a letter sent to educators and parents on Tuesday, the district said their plan is to have half of the students who have opted to return to school come in on one day, and the other half to come in the next day. 

The change comes as the district hopes to be able to increase the capacity to provide physical distancing measures in schools. 

“Originally, Davis School District planned on a “normal” school opening with required face coverings, enhanced hygiene/sterilization procedures, and — where possible — physical distancing,” read the letter. 

In order to make this happen the district announced Tuesday they are planning for an “alternate-day, hybrid (in-person/remote) learning model.”

“The schedule for the alternate-day learning model will be as follows:

• Students whose last name begins with A-K, will attend school in-person on Mondays and Wednesdays with remote at-home learning on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• Students whose last name begins with L-Z will attend school in-person on Tuesdays and Thursdays with remote at-home learning on Mondays and Wednesdays.
• Fridays will be at-home remote learning days for all students with teachers working from the school site
to provide remote instruction.

For Junior High and High School students, the District will follow the same steps but will have Mondays and Tuesdays consist of all A-day classes, Wednesday and Thursday consist of all B-day classes, and a mix of both A/B-day classes on Friday.

7 reasons why

As part of the seven reasons the district says they decided to change their return to school plan, the first was to allow enough room for physical distancing. 

The other six reasons were:

• Allow teachers and staff to effectively monitor and encourage physical distancing, proper hygiene,
sterilization, and use of face coverings.
• Enhance contact tracing by the Davis County Health Department.
• Maintain the traditional feel of school and retain good in-school learning habits.
• Maintain students’ personal relationship with teachers and staff, which is an integral part of learning.
• Provide social connectedness and peer interactions between students, which are essential to a child’s
well-being.
• Minimize overall risk until the threat of COVID-19 subsides.

 

The district said they expect to maintain this plan until winter break.

“Our teachers must be healthy to teach. Our students must be healthy to learn. During this pandemic, and in these extraordinary times, we believe it is best to cautiously proceed with this alternate-day schedule. Please know these decisions are the result of much research, discussion,  and genuine concern for all.

“We also recognize the strain this alternate-day schedule places on families (work schedules, childcare needs, etc.). Our hope is that we will see a substantial decrease of COVID-19 cases and be able to resume a typical school schedule as soon as possible,” the district said saying that more detailed information will be provided by each individual school’s administration. 

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Read the full letter from Superintendent Reid Newey here.

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