Some private schools are opting to close during the 2002 Winter Games.
Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School in Salt Lake City will hold classes a half day Feb. 8, the day of the Opening Ceremonies, to avoid traffic problems. It also will close for the second week of the Games for the same reason, plus to "give people an opportunity to go to the events," principal Alan Sparrow said.
Reid School in Salt Lake City is offering a three-day February "Olympic break" to let students and parents take part in the Games. Waterford School in Sandy will close the full two weeks for the same reasons.
Waterford parent Bonnie Carter likes the idea but has other plans.
"I'm actually planning to leave town . . . to someplace warm," she said.
Soaring Wings Montessori School in Park City will close all of February. One of its campuses will be temporarily converted into a house for Norwegian athletes, administrator Bruce King said.
The private schools opted to close for a time during the Games at least a year ago, when calendars were being made. Some are shortening Christmas and spring breaks in exchange for the winter vacation.
In the public arena, Park City, Morgan and Wasatch school districts have decided to close during the Games.
They're the only districts to do so. But others have been urged to follow in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Salt Lake City Board of Education this week voted to let downtown Washington Elementary and West High, which are near the medals plaza and Delta Center, close the full two weeks. Superintendent Darline Robles cited concerns about traffic in part caused by thousands of additional security officers.
Granite School District, under pressure from a community worried about potential terrorist attacks, is expected to vote Nov. 13 on whether to close Kearns High and Beehive Elementary, adjacent to the Olympic Speed Skating Oval. Robert Flowers, commissioner of the Olympic Public Safety Command, has said schools "should go about business as usual." He will be at the high school at 7 p.m. Nov. 6, however, to hear parental concerns.
Not all private schools, however, are closing.
Challenger Schools, Carden Memorial School in Salt Lake City and Grace Lutheran School & Preschool in Sandy will remain open.
So will Catholic schools, which make up a huge chunk of local private and parochial schools.
Some schools close to Olympic venues, including St. Francis Xavier in Kearns and downtown Our Lady of Lourdes, Madeleine Choir School and Judge Memorial Catholic High School, may adjust start and end times to accommodate traffic. Schools also have security measures, including having just one unlocked entrance and bringing in more parent volunteers to keep an eye out for intruders, said Sister Catherine Kamphaus, superintendent of Utah Catholic Schools.
"Kids probably are more secure and safe with us," she said.
E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com