Beginning this Fall, Salt Lake City high schools will start an hour later, thanks to a unanimous decision made by the Salt Lake City School Board.
According to a report from FOX 13, classes will begin at 8:45 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. Classes are currently starting at 7:45. The hope is that students will be able to get more sleep before class.
Melissa Ford, the Salt Lake City School Board President, said she believes the benefits will outweigh her concerns of the schedule change interfering with student’s other responsibilities, such as jobs, siblings or after school activities.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the school board has been studying this change for over a year. The Logan City School District is the only other district in northern Utah with a start time after 8 a.m.
Voting Sticker
H.B. 338 would allow 16- and 17-year-old students to vote in local school board elections. It was developed by Arundhati Oommen, a junior at West Valley High School who serves as the student representative on the Salt Lake City School Board.
Oomen was frustrated that students like her don’t have a voice in local school board elections. Her bill, which Rep. Joel Briscoe is sponsoring, would allow school districts the option of letting students like like Oommen participate in board elections
Rep. Dan Johnson said he’s impressed with her civil engagement.
And she s not an activist. She s just a really bright, hard working kid that really enjoys civic engagement,” said Johnson.
SALT LAKE CITY A Minnesota educator has been selected as the next superintendent of the Salt Lake City School District.
The Salt Lake City Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to select Timothy Gadson III, associate superintendent of high schools with Anoka-Hennepin Schools in Anoka, Minnesota, as the district s top administrator. He will be extended a two-year contract and will start in July.
Gadson is believed to be the first Black educator to lead a Utah school district, according to the Utah School Boards Association. If it is the case, I think it s an honor and privilege. I think it s the Salt Lake City School District Board, really being bold and audacious and wanting the best candidate for the position. I think that I bring some things to the district and I m excited, Gadson said.
SALT LAKE CITY A bill originally seen as a way to push the Salt Lake City School District into returning all students to the classroom is now focusing on testing for students after its sponsor made major changes Friday.
The language of SB107, sponsored by Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, was substantially altered to focus instead on requirements surrounding Test to Stay protocols and thresholds.
The bill would require the Utah Department of Health to provide support to schools that initiate widespread COVID-19 testing under the Test to Stay program. It also establishes a 2% case threshold, up from 1% of the school population when schools must take steps to mitigate further spread of the virus, which often includes shifting to online learning.
Just four of 2,800 Salt Lake City School District high school students who underwent COVID-19 testing prior to the resumption of in-person learning this week tested positive, according to district officials.