SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s K-12 public schools will remain closed for in-person learning for the remainder of the academic year, state officials announced Tuesday.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson made the announcement during the daily COVID-19 briefing at the Utah Capitol.
“After consulting at length with the stakeholders — we’ve listened to parents, we’ve listened to teachers (and there’s) a variety of opinions of what we should do — I’ve come to the position that in order for us to continue to slow the spread and to get back on our feet socially and economically, this is not the time for us to have those schools back open,” Herbert said.
Even though it will have an impact on learning, “we want to make sure learning continues. Learning and achievement must continue and we want to make sure that will continue,” he said.
Herbert said he is particularly concerned that high school seniors are prepared for postsecondary education or the workforce.
Dickson said she supports the governor’s decision because it is based on safety “not only of our students but of our citizens.” The decision will help school resume regular operations sooner, protect public health and contribute to the state’s economic recovery, she said.
However, Dickson said state education leaders are particularly concerned about the impact of the extended dismissal on students at risk of academic failure: students who live in poverty, those who are English language learners and students with disabilities. Educators are exploring the possibility of summer programs, tutoring and other supports to assist the state’s most vulnerable students.
Meanwhile, Utah schools will continue to ensure students receive meals, that learning continues, seniors finish the school prepared for college or other postsecondary training, and that schools continue to reach out to meet students, families and educators’ social-emotional needs.
Dickson said some districts are planning on virtual graduations for high school seniors and attempting to come up with alternatives to traditional end-of-year celebrations.
She expressed gratitude to students, parents and educators who have “leaned in” to facilitate learning under highly challenging circumstances that she described as the “new now,” rather than the new normal.
“Nothing is normal about this situation,” she said.
Dickson added, “I want to thank our students for being resilient. I want to thank our teachers for being so creative, dedicated and hardworking, and I want to thank our parents for being flexible. They carry a heavy load trying to be teachers, breadwinners and supports to their families. We just want to thank everybody who has leaned in to continue on in this new now as we move into the near future,” she said.
Schools are determining what to do in terms of student grades and credits, she said.
Dickson said she is recommending that educators “do no harm. Go easy. Realize the stress of this time. We’re so appreciative of the students and teachers who are making sure learning continues, and parents, but we also realize here are a lot of mitigating circumstances.”
Kristen Johnson, a single mom of a first grader, said she broke into tears when she found out that school had been dismissed for the remainder of the academic year.
She’s working from home and attempting to facilitate her son’s education.
“It’s been really hard. It’s been really hard on my relationship with my son. We’re all doing the best that we can. I have to work from home, which itself has been an adjustment. His teacher is great and they’ve been doing a lot with the online schooling and all that. But that only keeps him busy for so much of the time and I worry that I’m failing him because I’m not a teacher,” she said.
On the one hand, Johnson said she’s grateful her son is at an age that she’s able to help him with his work. But he’s also so young that he really doesn’t understand why he can’t return to school or why he is not allowed to play with his friends.
“No one is made to do all of these full-time jobs at the same time,” Johnson said. She strives to be patient with her son and patient with herself, she said.
Johnson said she is grateful that she has a job that can be performed at home, that she remains employed and that her employer is supportive of parents who are guiding their children’s distance learning while also doing their own jobs.
Still, the announcement “was a gut punch. I’ve been pretty emotional the last half-hour since I heard this,” she said.
“You just put your chin up and trust you’re doing the best you can,” Johnson said.
West High School senior Olivia Brenneman said the governor’s announcement was disappointing but not a surprise.
“I think we all kind of knew that this was coming. We just didn’t want it to happen because it is our senior year,” she said.
Although Brenneman said she feels prepared for college, completing high school graduation requirements has become increasingly difficult, particularly classes that require proctored tests.
Brenneman said she has mixed feelings about the disruption to her senior year. She serves on West High’s Senate and had worked hard to prepare the school’s spirit week events. “To hear that was all kind of for nothing, it sucks,” she said.
It is also unclear how the school graduation ceremony will be handled, she said.
“I definitely think that we’re being robbed of some things but at the same time, it almost seems like it’s making people grow up faster,” she said.
Brenneman said she’s looking ahead to college. She’s committed to swim for the University of Puget Sound. She and other incoming freshmen have become snail mail pen pals, which gives her something fun to look forward to when the mail arrives each day.
Canyons School District spokesman Jeff Haney said the decision was disappointing for students who were looking forward to returning to school to see their teachers and friends.
“This is particularly disappointing for the Class of 2020, which won’t be able to spend their final days in school with the people who made their years so memorable. But we recognize the decision to dismiss classes until the end of this academic year was not made lightly. It was done for the health and wellness of our entire community,” Haney said.
Haney said Canyons School District leaders “have every confidence in the skills and abilities — and dedication — of our teachers to finish the year strong. They will make sure that students know what they need to know to advance successfully to the next grade when we return in the fall.”
Utah joins more than 20 states and U.S. territories that have ordered or recommended school building closures for the rest of the school year, according to Education Week.
On March 13, Herbert, Dickson and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox announced a soft closure of Utah public schools — district and charter schools — for two weeks due to social distancing recommendations necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ten days later, the dismissal was extended until May 1. Nearly 667,000 children in grades K-12 attend Utah public schools.
Instruction is ongoing through distance learning. Some schools have sent home paper packets with students while others have shifted to online platforms. Schools continue to provide meal service and work with families that need other services.
Parents, educators and school administrators have said they had mentally prepared for the possibility that Utah students would not return to their schools this academic year but the announcement means another five to six more weeks of instruction guided by parents at home, according to some school district calendars.
Park City School District Superintendent Jill Gildea, in a letter to the school community, wrote that remote learning will continue for the remainder of the school year and high school graduation has been postponed.
She expressed gratitude to staff, students and the community for coming together to meet the challenges imposed by the pandemic.
“I am most grateful to the students, who are going through a moment they will never forget — perhaps a chapter that will define their generation and one where so much is still unclear,” Gildea wrote.