SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City School District is preparing to bring students back to the classroom in February. SLCSD is the only district in the state to currently not offer in-person learning options.
Read: First Salt Lake City teachers line up for COVID-19 vaccine
The Salt Lake City School Board voted to allow secondary students to return to in-person learning in a hybrid style beginning February 8.
This is the same date elementary school students are expected to return for in-person learning. Secondary students will return to the classroom two days a week and then will remain online for the remaining three days.
“From the beginning of this discussion in Salt Lake City School District in July when we made the decision to start remote, we have been following data and science and best practices ever since then,” Nate Salazar, Vice-President of the Salt Lake City School Board, said.
Middle-school teacher Chelsie Acosta said she was baffled when she woke up to the news that she would be returning to the classroom in just a few weeks; before she’s been vaccinated.
“For me it is unforgivable that we go back into the building before we have all had our second doses,” she said.
News of the option for children to return to the classroom is welcomed by many parents. Parents can still make the decision to keep their children at home for online learning.
This was not a response to mounting pressure, Salazar said, instead it was a well thought out plan to bring kids back safely.
“Coupling the vaccine with our preventative measures and the investments that we have made there, that we can mitigate the spread or transmission as much as we can,” he said.
For more information on safety in Utah classrooms, click here.