BOX ELDER COUNTY - By Cari Doutre - April 14, 2020
Utah Governor Gary Herbert announced on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 that all public schools in Utah are to remain closed for the remainder of the school year.
“This is not an easy decision to make,” Herbert said during a press conference on April 14. "This is not the time to have schools back open."
“We continue to battle the coronavirus,” Herbert said. “We are winning.”
Box Elder School District has yet to release a statement or plans regarding today's announcement. That information will be posted as soon as it is available.
UPDATE: 3:30 p.m.
The Utah High School Activities Association has cancelled all remaining spring activities and sports including state championships.
"Current UHSAA policies prohibiting the use of school facilities and organizing practice and/or team gatherings remain in effect until further notice." - Utah High School Activities Association, April 14, 2020
In the UHSAA statement it adds, "The UHSAA Board of Trustees (Board) promotes the benefits of participating in education-based high school activities and recognizes the overwhelming disappointment this decision is for the students and athletes, especially seniors."
More coverage from this press conference as reported by The Valley Headliner – BRVNEWS.com will be posted soon. Please check back.
This announcement comes after a month of state-wide closures, restrictions and government orders to help prevent further spreading of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Utah.
On March 13, 2020, Herbert stated in a press conference that all public schools in Utah were dismissed or undergo a “soft closure” effective March 16. The original announcement stated that this closure would be for two weeks but on March 23, the state extended that dismissal through May 1.
COVID-19 CONFIRMED CASES AS OF APRIL 14, 2020:
BOX ELDER COUNTY: 13
CACHE COUNTY: 36
BEAR RIVER HEALTH DEPARTMENT DISTRICT TOTAL: 49
UTAH: 2,412
UTAH DEATHS: 19
Here is a timeline of those announcements as reported in previous articles by The Valley Headliner – BRVNEWS.com on weekly local COVID-19 updates.
MARCH 23, 2020: UTAH PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISMISSED UNTIL MAY 1
Governor Herbert announced on March 23, that all K-12 public schools in Utah are extending their dismissal through May 1. Individual school districts will determine what is best for their students and district. Box Elder School District will continue with soft closures which includes online learning at home for students.
MARCH 19, 2020: UTAH STATE SCHOOL BOARD WAIVES REQUIREMENTS
On Thursday, March 19, the Utah State School Board of Education announced that they will waive school day requirements for schools 2019-20 school year. Schools are no longer required to have 180 total school days for the year. All public schools in Utah are currently dismissed for a two-week period.
The board also suspended the requirement for statewide assessments for the current school year.
MARCH 13, 2020: ALL UTAH PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISMISSED
Herbert announced on Friday, March 13, that all public schools will be dismissed, or implement a “soft close” for two weeks starting March 16.
“We feel strongly that the best way to keep our communities healthy is to implement these measures early, rather than late,” Herbert said in a press conference.
All school districts in Utah will determine what is best for their community.
MARCH 13, 2020: BOX ELDER SCHOOL DISTRICT’S DISMISSAL PLANS
“This school closure is a preventative measure to decrease the spread of coronavirus. A soft school closure means that students will be dismissed from school, but facilities would be kept open and staff will continue to work,” Box Elder School District stated in a letter sent to parents on March 13.
- Beginning Wednesday, March 18, students will be learning at home via online curriculum. For students without access to internet, a curriculum can be picked up at their school or mailed to them via USPS.
- For students that don’t have devices at home for the online curriculum, Chromebook’s can be checked out and used at home.
BOX ELDER SCHOOL DISTRICT: https://www.besd.net/
All extracurricular school activities, including those associated with the Utah High School Activities Association, are suspended for two weeks. This includes all high school sports and all other activities (school dances, events, etc.). More on UHSAA suspensions can be found below.
“We appreciate the community working together to minimize any spread of the coronavirus throughout the district. As a district, we are encouraging all parents to limit large group gatherings during this time.” - Box Elder School District March 13, 2020 parent email.