Canyons School District adds emergency remote-learning day Tuesday
Jan 12, 2022, 11:46 AM
FILE -- A classroom that is empty on what would be a school day that is instead used for remote learning. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — Because of student absences, staff shortages and spreading COVID-19 cases, Canyons School District has planned an emergency remote-learning day next week.
All district schools will suspend on-campus instruction on Tuesday, Jan. 18 and focus instead on remote learning. Monday is the Martin Luther King holiday, and Fri. Jan. 14 is a previously-scheduled no-student day so adding Tuesday will extend consecutive days without in-person contact for staff and students to five, the same number of days the CDC recommends for isolation of those who have confirmed cases of COVID-19 when they are symptom free.
In-person instruction is planned to resume Wednesday, Jan. 19.
“The hope is to disrupt transmission of the virus, while keeping the disruption to family schedules at a minimum. To provide teachers and school staff with additional planning time to support the needs of the growing numbers of students who out sick and learning from home,” the district said in an explanatory email.
Tuesday, Jan. 18 will be a day of online learning within the Canyons School District, the district announced.https://t.co/Wp5rPSXbQv
— KSL NewsRadio (@kslnewsradio) January 12, 2022
The district said the decision was made in consultation with the Utah Board of Education, state elected leaders — though none were specified — and the Salt Lake County Health Department and approved by the Canyons Board of Education. The board also approved two additional remote-learning Fridays, bringing the total to eight for the school year.
CANYONS SCHOOL DISTRICT REMOTE LEARNING DAYS
- Tuesday, Jan. 18
- Friday, Jan. 28
- Friday, Feb. 4
- Friday, Feb. 11
- Friday, March 25
- Friday, April 22 (All schools except Brighton High)
- Friday, April 29 (Brighton High only)
“Despite enhanced COVID-19 prevention measures, case counts are reaching new heights in the Canyons community. On Tuesday, Jan. 11, CSD’s four traditional high schools met the threshold for conducting Test-to-stay events. Due to supply-chain issues, testing kits are in short supply statewide,” the district said.
It also cited unprecedented employee absences, in an already prolonged labor shortage. One day this week 17% of the district’s full-time employees missed work for health or personal reasons, causing up to four-hour delays on some bus routes, a depleted pool of substitute teachers and forcing changes to provide supervision for classes. It also said rising student absences are causing disruptions to in-person learning.
Schools will use the five-day break to deep clean and host a vaccine clinic for employees to get booster doses against COVID-19.
The Canyons Board of Education OK'd a change in the calendar to add remote-learning days. This is in response to the spike in COVID-19 cases, which has led to operational challenges. See more, including the dates of the new Remote-Learning Days, at https://t.co/pE9hA3o4uN
— Canyons District (@canyonsdistrict) January 12, 2022
On remote-learning days, elementary students will work with a parent or guardian to complete assignments and and learning expectations from their teacher by packets or by logging into Canvas. Middle school and high school students will log in to Canvas for each of their classes while teachers will be available on remote-learning days by email and will connect with students through designated video conferencing.
There will be no disruption to extracurricular activities. Theatrical rehearsals, sporting events, practices and performances will continue as previously scheduled.
Canyons said questions can be best addressed by your child’s teacher or by emailing communications@canyonsdistrict.org.
