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By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspondent

Juab School District has been working on plans to open schools this fall and has been studying the “Back to School Action Plan” but it is still somewhat tentative in nature.

Dr. Kodey Hughes, superintendent, said that he was one of a team of educators who had been working to design a plan for the Juab School District.

“Back to school plans are on everyone’s mind,” said Hughes.

He said that, since May 26, the team had been meeting and working on a plan for what school might look like this fall.

In addition to Hughes, on that committee are Dr. Rick Robins, former superintendent; Dr. Royd Darrington, assistant superintendent; Jim Langford, Juab High School principal; Sandy Nielsen, elementary and assessment director; Heidi Robins, district psychologist; and Krystal Bassett, inovation/instructional director.

“What a team I have joined,” said Hughes.

The Utah State Board of Education wants public schools to prepare plans for the return to school this fall and be ready to go by August 1.

The state board has debated and discussed school reopening plan requirements and recommendations that are intended to become part of Utah Gov. Gary Herbert’s Utah Leads Together plan.

Opportunity Labs recently released guidance for district superintendents and school leaders to plan a safe, efficient and equitable return to school and Juab School District is making use of those tools.

“Opportunity Labs is a not-for-profit think tank,” said Darrington. “They reached out with a road map of essential actions for local education leaders.”

The guidance, funded by some of the country’s foremost philanthropists and business leaders, covers all areas that local education leaders should consider in planning a return to school in the fall. It was created through the collaborative efforts of public health leaders and education experts.

Hughes said that the road map addresses: governance, wellness, instruction, postsecondary, facilities, school operations and technology.

Local school districts’ and charter school boards’ plans need to be in place no later than August 1 so families can plan for the coming school year.

The Opportunity Labs road map is not an exhaustive list of every action that a district or school leader will need to take to return to school.

“Transportation is a big concern for Juab School District,” said Hughes. “However, Juab School District technology is in a better place than most.”

To ride a school bus, staff and other passengers would be required to wear face masks. Bus seats and other high-touch surfaces would require regular cleaning and disinfection. Perhaps there would need to be social distancing.

Hughes said that the board may need to entertain the idea of meeting two times as a board in July in order to met the August 1 deadline.

“There is still a health risk,” said Linda Hanks, board member. “Even if the district is green we will need a whole new set of norms.”

The biggest issue would be providing means for the best teaching and the best learning.

She said that the plan for the district was a living document and it could be revisited as more information becomes available or conditions change.

“We want to build a plan without a question mark,” Hughes said.

The state school board at their last meeting approved a document that spells out requirements and recommendations for a host of considerations such as social distancing, wearing of masks, riding school buses, cafeteria practices, hygiene practices, contact tracing and large-group gatherings.

Meanwhile, districts could determine how to maximize physical distancing or come up with ways to protect drivers, such as placing Plexiglass around bus drivers’ seats or assigning seating to assist in contact tracing.

The requirement and recommendations are intended to mitigate risk in classroom settings. For example, the state would develop training and require schools to undergo the training. The plan includes many recommendations, but districts and charter school boards would have latitude to implement recommendations that work best in their particular school settings.

The district will continue to study what sort of plan would work best in Juab. That latitude is particularly important in a state that prizes local control, some board members argued.

Utah schools and districts vary greatly so one size does not fit all. Some of Utah’s smallest schools have less than a dozen students while some of the state’s largest high schools have more than 3,000.

“I think this may be a work in progress for the next year or so,” said Dale Whitlock, board president.

Tracy Olsen, board member, said that he was concerned that level green, in the governor’s color levels, might send out the wrong message because it wasn’t green for go but was green for a new normal.

“This is just a draft,” said Hughes. “That is the only message we can send out right now.”

When the state board of education met recently, it recommended that staff wear face coverings when it was difficult to maintain physical distancing and that students wear face coverings when engaged in contact longer than 15 minutes within six feet of others.

The state board also suggested implementing remote or other learning options for students whose families choose for them not to be in a classroom learning environment due to high-risk status or personal decision.

A forward-thinking suggestion from the state board was that the state executive branch replace the color-coded phases of the Utah Leads plan with the school reopening plan.