SANDY – School districts are quickly drawing up plans on how to help students who were forced into attending class virtually because of extended closures as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Tuesday, the Canyons School District named Rick Robins as its new superintendent. He is already preparing to help students when they return to their physical classrooms.
“It’s going to be an all-hands on deck approach to provide the resources necessary to meet our kids’ needs,” Robins said. “It’s overwhelming for everybody right now. We are in this together.”
Parents have expressed concerns that their children aren’t learning vital information they’ll need to succeed when they move to a higher grade level in September. Districts are preparing toe account for that possible gap.
“When we get back in the Fall, we will gather baseline assessments of where kids are at and then do what’s best for each individual student,” Robins said.
That is a concern being felt around the state.
“I expect many of our students will not be grade level proficient and that’s something they will account for statewide this fall,” said Ben Horsley, a spokesperson for the Granite School District.
“There will not be a one size fits all solution,” said Anthony Godfrey, the Superintendent of the Jordan School District during a virtual board meeting. “We will need to asses where are students, what’s the impact and how do we get them up to speed.”
Educators know there will be some challenges when students return to their traditional classroom settings. If that means life returns to some sort of normalcy, it will be a challenge they’ll gladly face with students, parents and teachers working as a team.
“That’s the beauty of Utah. We work together well and in times of crisis like this, I think we come together and put all of our energy in the same direction to serve our kids,” Robins said
