BOX ELDER COUNTY – By Cari Doutre – August 7, 2020
Schools in the Box Elder School District are set to re-open in less than a month and changes to Box Elder School District’s “Return to Learn” plan have already been made during the on-going world-wide COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
All public schools in the state of Utah were dismissed on March 16, 2020, for what Utah Governor Gary Herbert called a “soft closure.” Students spent the remaining 2019-2020 school year participating in online distance learning.
The Box Elder School Board of Education officially approved a plan during a school board meeting on July 15, 2020, providing students and parents more information about the upcoming school year. Read BRVNEWS.com’s previously published article below covering that meeting and plan:
While most of the changes are minor, the Box Elder School District has clarified a few details before schools open for the 2020-2021 school year on August 31, 2020. The following information was updated on their website on August 5. https://www.besd.net/COVID/COVID_FAQ.php
MASKS AND FACE COVERINGS:
Masks and face coverings must be worn by students, teachers and all staff when physical distancing of at least six feet is not possible.
Masks and face coverings are required to follow dress code guidelines set by the Box Elder School District and individual schools. Masks and face coverings can’t show inappropriate words or images.
Face shields are not to replace masks or face coverings because they are currently not approved by the Center for Disease Control. However, for teachers “a face shield along should only be worn when the mouth needs to be seen (i.e. a phonics lesson, a student who is deaf/hard of hearing needing to read lips), and is absolutely not a substitute for wearing a mask,” states Box Elder School District.
Those exempt from wearing masks or face coverings include: a student or employee with a medical condition, mental health condition or disability that prevents them from wearing a mask or face covering.
For those individuals, administrators and school nurses will work with these students, parents or staff members.
“Not wanting to wear a mask is not sufficient reason to gain an exemption,” stated Box Elder School District.
Masks and face coverings are required to follow dress code guidelines set by the Box Elder School District and individual schools. Masks and face coverings can’t show inappropriate words or images.
MINIMUM DAYS:
Students enrolled in Box Elder School District attending in-person learning, will have minimum days for the first two weeks of the school year (August 31-September 11). They will attend school for four hours on those minimum days.
ONLINE LEARNING FOR DUAL IMMERSION STUDENTS:
Changes to Box Elder School District’s “Return to Learn” plan include options for students that will participate in online learning – including dual immersion students.
As stated in the original plan, students currently enrolled in one of BESD’s dual immersion language programs, are not eligible to register for online learning. However, on August 4, the school district released the following statement via email:
"Dear Parents of Dual Immersion Students,
We are happy to announce that we will be offering online Dual Immersion classes if your family choses to do online schooling, for both Spanish and Chinese. If this option is chosen, your child would do the normal online program that is offered for all students, and there will be an additional class for the target language.
Please note that these classes are not meant to be a substitute for a typical Dual Immersion classroom, where students would be listening and speaking the target language for half of their school day. This is just meant to help the students from getting too far behind if you feel it is in the best interest of your family to keep them home during this time.
Again, please remember that if you are choosing the online option, you must enroll on our district website, https://www.besd.net/COVID/Online_Learning.php. This must be done by this FRIDAY, AUGUST 7. If you choose the online option you must for the trimester.
Keep in mind that dual enrollment is also an option, where you would bring your child to school for the target language portion of the day and do online learning for the rest of the day. If you would like to pursue that option, please contact your child's principal." - AshLee Nelson, Dual Immersion Coordinator, Box Elder School District
The deadline to register students for BESD’s online learning program is August 7.
Further information on available courses for online learning through Box Elder School District can be found at: https://www.besd.net/COVID/OnlineCourses1stTri.php
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