DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — The Davis School District Tuesday announced it will not reopen normally as planned for the school year, but instead opt for a hybrid, alternating schedule.
"Due to the prevalence of COVID-19 cases in our community and in order to further limit the spread of the virus, we need to increase our capacity to provide physical distancing in our schools," a letter to parents stated.
The plan is as follows:
- Students with last names beginning with A-K will attend school in-person on Mondays and Wednesdays, with remote at-home learning on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- Students with last names beginning with L-Z will attend school in-person on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with remote at-home learning on Mondays and Wednesdays.
- Fridays are set aside for at-home remote learning
Chris Williams, spokesperson for the Davis School District, explained that they realized it would have been impossible to social distance students with normal class sizes and normal bus schedules.
"We're talking 35/36 students in a class, and 72 students on a bus. We can't physically distance," Williams said. "So of course, if we cut those numbers in half, we can do a lot better."
Williams explained how sports have started up, and already 11 of their 45 teams in the district have had to quarantine due to positive cases of COVID-19.
He said he understands that this is a challenge for parents, but not taking this step could end with an even bigger challenge.
"Our hope is that we will see a substantial decrease of COVID-19 cases and be able to resume a typical school schedule as soon as possible," the letter to parents said. "At this point, we are planning for a continuation of the alternate-day schedule until winter break."
