Davis School District, it is time to revisit the impending transition to the 4-day-a-week schedule from the hybrid schedule as COVID-19 case numbers surge across the state and Davis County records its highest case numbers yet. As the state is reporting staggering infection rates that set the state apart as a COVID-19 hotspot, I would ask what wisdom would require at this critical moment.
There is wisdom in increasing in-person time for students and teachers when cases and positivity rates are correspondingly decreasing, not as the state is reported as a leading hotspot in the nation. I want my children to reap the benefits of in-person schooling, but I also understand that we are a part of a larger community and we have a responsibility to serve and protect the community in which we live.
It is well established that a surge in cases will ultimately lead to more hospitalizations and deaths. Children do not exist in a bubble. What may be asymptomatic and minor to them may be devastating to their older teacher, parent or grandparent.
As our state leaders in medicine raise the alarm at the prospect of overwhelmed hospitals, should we add to this burden by increasing in-person days and easing social distancing requirements — or lead out with a schedule that better protects both child and teacher and subsequently our community?
Maren Williams Warnick
Syracuse