FARMINGTON, Utah — Nearly 2,000 parents in Davis County have signed a petition asking their schools to keep a hybrid schedule of online and in-person.
This comes after the school district decided on Tuesday tobring all students back into school starting at the end of the month for four days of in-person classes each week. On Fridays, classes will continue to be held online.
The question parents have is similar to the school district — when is it okay to go back to normal?
For parents, they said it’s still too soon.
The Davis School District has prevented, so far, a major spread COVID-19 throughout their schools, which some have attributed to the district's hybrid schedule of online and in-class learning.
“Our numbers are working,” said Genevra Prothero, who has a 16-year-old in the school district.
Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams said they’ve heard multiple parents praise the hybrid system as well as condone it.
“The school board’s decision was, eventually, we need to get back,” said Williams.
Since school opened this fall, Davis School District reports 20 elementary school students have contracted COVID-19. Eleven students have been quarantined.
In their secondary schools, 73 students have contracted COVID-19 and 153 have been quarantined.
“Of course, we have to be more vigilant with keeping our hands washed, masks on and keeping ourselves physically distanced,” said Williams.
Some parents ask why the district is changing what has been working for them so far.
“It begs the question, why would you fix something that’s not broken?” said Ryan Brown, who has four kids with Davis School District.
Brown’s kids asked to do online and have done well with the current schedule.
For Prothero’s son, though, it hasn’t been as easy.
“He’s having a hard time,” said Prothero. “But he finally said, 'mom I’m getting used to this.'”
Prothero said she would choose the struggle over the chance of getting sick.
“This is not normal,” said Prothero. “You can’t learn if you’re really sick and we don’t know the long term impacts.”
The school board has not decided if they will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
Williams said so far the plan is to move forward with going back to a four day, in-class schedule starting September 28.