Parents Hoping Vaccine Prompts Classroom Return In Salt Lake
Dec 15, 2020, 9:19 PM
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After the holidays, officials at the Salt Lake City School District will discuss the possibility of reopening middle and high schools. Parents who spoke to KSL TV said they hoped students would be returning to class.
A lot has changed since board members last met. The distribution of vaccines has started – first to frontline medical workers. Teachers could be rolling up their sleeves by the end of the month.
It’s been a challenging year for some parents with students doing online learning. Around 4,000 middle and high school Salt Lake students have struggled with failing grades – more than previous years.
Parents said it’s time to at least give them the option of a returning their children to class, once the teachers can get the vaccine.
Suzanne Paylor, the mother of three Salt Lake students, said it was hard not to get emotional as she thinks about her children being impacted by this year.
“They’ve lost their whole community,” she said.
Her son and two daughters have been doing online learning in the district, but she transferred her youngest daughter into the Granite School District to avoid online learning struggles.
“There is something about that classroom, bringing them all together and having the presence of the teacher there,” she said.
Julie Mulcock agreed.
“We have had ups and downs academically, but emotionally, it’s been tough,” she said. “I am a single mom. I have to go to work and can’t help them.”
Mulcock has two children in the district, and hoped officials would bring the students back after hearing the news of teachers getting approved for the vaccine early.
“We have gotten to this position where it is all or nothing, and it doesn’t make sense to me. We should be able to choose,” she said.
A district spokesperson said the vaccine would be part of the conversation when the district Board of Education meets on January 5. There was no indication of what they might decide, especially with three new members joining for the first time.
They said the school board and superintendent have been monitoring COVID-19 numbers, meeting weekly with the Salt Lake County Health Department, and staying on top of the latest information.
KSL TV called all of the school board Tuesday, and was able to speak with with four. One hung up on us, two said they wouldn’t be able to speak on the matter, and Mike Nemelka said he did not anticipate the board voting to bring students back into the classroom
“Unless you’re living it, you really don’t see how hard it is,” Paylor said.
The District spokesperson said the goal has always been to work toward returning back to the schools safely.
