SALT LAKE CITY — Roy and Cottonwood high schools announced Tuesday night they will be closing for two weeks and pivoting to online learning after at least 15 people at both schools tested positive for COVID-19.
The “soft closure” will begin Wednesday, and students will return to the classroom Oct. 28, according to documents from Weber and Granite school districts.
At Roy High School, classes will be “delivered online using our short-term flexible learning model,” the district said. During the closure, the building will be disinfected and sanitized.
A message from the Granite School District to parents and staff urged them to watch for COVID-19 symptoms in themselves and their children, and to contact a health care provider or seek testing if they develop. If they do experience symptoms, they were urged not to leave home except to receive medical care.
Roy High’s announcement comes about a week after the school’s entire football team and 13 coaches went under quarantine when three people associated with the team tested positive for COVID-19. In all, 94 people were instructed to quarantine for 14 days, canceling the game scheduled that Friday against Weber High School.
An outbreak is defined by the Utah Department of Health’s COVID-19 school manual as an instance where “15 people tested positive for COVID-19 across multiple settings in the school (more than one classroom) and are connected by the same time period or 10% of the student population.”
“We would like to remind everyone to continue to be vigilant in following current health guidelines by wearing face coverings, practicing good hygiene and physically distancing from others to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the district said on Tuesday.