BOX ELDER COUNTY – By Cari Doutre – April 17, 2020
The fate of the 2019-2020 school year in Utah was officially determined on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. Utah Governor Gary Herbert announced in a press conference in Salt Lake City that all public schools in the state will remain dismissed under the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic restrictions.
For more on The Valley Headliner – BRVNEWS.com’s coverage of this announcement, click on the previously posted article below.
The next day Box Elder School District released further information for students, parents and staff in an email sent by Steven E. Carlsen, Superintendent for Box Elder School District, on April 15.
“Our hope has been to continue the education of the children in our school district the best we could under the circumstances. We understand this has not been ideal and it has placed unusual pressures on you as parents. We have tried to adapt and make this situation the best it can be,” stated Carlsen.
Three additional documents were released to help provide further clarity and allow consistency throughout Box Elder School District.
A list of five priorities was released by the district in one of the documents. Those priorities include:
- Maintain the safety, health and security of every staff member
- Connect with every student/family with a focus on kindness, caring and learning (in that order)
- Create an environment of normalcy and support for staff, students and families
- Systemize delivery of information and instruction from staff to the public we serve
- Move student learning in a positive direction
This list of priorities is then broken down into three phases - urgent, stabilization and recovery
To view the complete plan, click on the link below.
In regards to grading procedures during the COVID-19 soft closure, Box Elder School District has taken into consideration the “unanticipated challenges of remote learning.”
With that, teachers are allowed to use consideration when grading assignments or other school-work.
To read the full procedure on grading, click on the link below.
Attendance during remote learning is a tricky aspect to cover. However, Box Elder School District has issued an official procedure for how attendance and participation will be counted.
Attendance will be marked in each class in one of three ways - participation, no participation and limited participation.
Based off of students’ completed assignments online and other ways of tracking academic progress, teachers will have a method to determine what is best for students.
For more information on attendance procedures, click on the link below.
“It is my complete belief that when we start school back up our professional educators will know how to access all the students' learning and knowledge and in a short time catch them back up to where they need to be,” Carlsen added.
