Davis School District Votes To Keep Hybrid Reopening Plan
Aug 6, 2020, 6:55 PM | Updated: 11:49 pm
FARMINGTON, Utah – In an emergency meeting Thursday night, the Davis School District unanimously voted to keep the hybrid reopening plan, which calls for students to meet for in-person learning twice a week.
Parents have been pushing for both the current hybrid plan, which calls for in-class instruction twice a week and online learning three days a week, while others wanted a five-day, in-person school week.
NEW: The Davis School District board unanimously votes to keep their hybrid reopening plan. #uted pic.twitter.com/B3SIPLNpyW
— Kelli Pierce (@KelliReports) August 7, 2020
With parents fighting for what they believe is best on both sides, it can be easy to feel caught in the middle if you’re a teacher.
“We love our students. We want to see our students every day,” said Sarah Jones, an instructional coach at Centennial and Legacy junior highs. She’s also a mother of six children in the Davis School District.
With a worldwide pandemic, she believes a compromise is the best approach.
Large crowd with different views assembled outside the Davis School District offices for tonight’s emergency meeting on the fall schedule. We’ll have a full story @KSL5TV at 10p #KSLTV #Utah pic.twitter.com/dFAhBDAFkV
— Andrew Adams (@AndrewAdamsKSL) August 7, 2020
“Our kids get to continue learning, they’re building those important relationships, and they’re also keeping themselves, our teachers, and our entire community safe,” she said.
She said school is not like the grocery store; it’s tougher to keep a safe distance.
“I work with reading intervention classes, so I’m often sitting with me and five other students within a three-foot radius,” she said.
She’s not the only teacher who feels that way.
Mark Mageras is a history teacher and basketball coach at Legacy Junior High. He said meeting five days a week would be ideal, but the hybrid plan will help get them on track.
“Starting out with two days a week is our best chance to get back to five days a week, full-time regular school, which is what we all want,” he said.
And while there is concern from parents of some special needs kids, Jones believes if the hybrid plan will work for her son, it can work for others too.
“I’m a parent who has one of those kiddos,” she said. “He has an IEP, he has individualized needs. “The school and the teachers, they’re legally bound to meet his needs. So now they can do that in person, two days a week, and they can also use online school to meet his needs the other days.”
But both were concerned if the district takes on too much too soon that it will not last, or be sustainable.
Another teacher said, off-camera, she supports the five-day push. She says kids need normalcy and need to not live in fear. She also feels with kids being less likely to spread the virus, it can be done safely.
