OCR Text |
Show A-2 The Park Record The Park Record. Serving Summit County since 1880 The Park Record, Park City’s No. 1 source for local news, opinion and advertising, is available for home delivery in Summit, Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties. Single copies are also available at 116 locations throughout Park City, Heber City, Summit County and Salt Lake City. SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Summit County (home delivery): $56 per year (includes Sunday editions of The Salt Lake Tribune) Outside Summit County (home delivery available in Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah counties; all other addresses will be mailed via the U.S. Postal Service): $80 per year To subscribe please call 435–649– 9014 or visit www.parkrecord.com and click the Subscribe link in the Reader Tools section of the toolbar at the bottom of the page. To report a missing paper, please call 801–204–6100. Same-day redelivery is possible if you call during the following hours: * Weekdays: 6:30–8 a.m. * Saturday: 7–8 a.m. * Sunday: 7–10:30 a.m. To request a vacation hold or change of address, please call 435–649–9014 or email: circulation@parkrecord.com THE NEWSROOM To contact the newsroom, please call 435–649–9014 or email editor@parkrecord.com For display advertising, please call a sales representative at 435–649– 9014 or email val@parkrecord.com To place a classified ad, please call 435–649–9014 or email classads@parkrecord.com For questions about your bill, please call 435–649–9014 or email accounts@parkrecord.com The Park Record online is available at www.parkrecord.com and contains all of the news and feature stories in the latest edition plus breaking news updates. The Record’s website also hosts interactive entertainment, restaurant and lodging listings and multimedia features. Contents of The Park Record are Copyrighted 2015, Wasatch Mountain News Media Co. All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the managing editor or publisher. The Park Record (USPS 378-730) (ISSN 0745-9483) is published twice weekly by Wasatch Mountain News Media Co., 1670 Bonanza Drive, Park City, UT 84060. Periodicals postage paid at Salt Lake City, Utah, 84199-9655 and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, UT84060. Entered as second-class matter, May 25, 1977, at the Post Office in Park City, Utah, 84060 under the Act of March 3, 1897. Subscription rates are: $56 within Summit county, $80 outside of Summit County, Utah. Subscriptions are transferable: $5 cancellation fee. Phone: 435–649–9014 Fax: 435–649–4942 Email: circulation@parkrecord.com Published every Wednesday and Saturday Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, October 10-13, 2020 East Side schools report few COVID cases P Districts say they have C adapted well to ‘new normal’ for education JEFF DEMPSEY The Park Record One quarter into the 2020-21 school year, Summit County’s East Side school districts are reporting a largely successful transition to the “new normal” of education under COVID-19 safety protocols. South Summit School District Jodi Jones, South Summit School District’s public relations head, said while things haven’t been perfect, they’ve gone better than district officials anticipated. The district adopted a blended-learning model that has students on campus four days a week, with either Wednesday or Friday instruction held remotely depending on the campus. “I worried that students would be constantly not wearing masks and teachers would spend their time managing COVID and not being able to teach,” she said. “Yes, there are times when they have to remind and help students follow protocols, but overall they have been amazing at wearing masks and keeping social distance during the school day.” Continued from A-1 Students stay home through 12 will be released at 11:50 a.m. on Fridays and will continue to be released at 1:45 p.m. Mondays. The board opted to keep in place an early release on Mondays to help parents who have scheduled activities then. That allows teachers to touch base with remote learners early in the week and use the end-of-the-week session to plan lessons. Younger students’ schedules will be unchanged. Gildea wrote in an email to The Park Record that grades kindergarten through seven have teachers dedicated to remote learning for each grade level, allowing in-person teachers to concentrate more on students who are attending the district’s schools. The Park City Education Association, the union that represents Park City teachers, said it stood behind the board’s move. “Providing more time to connect with both remote and in person learn- Continued from A-1 Malone inducted regarding the Utah Olympic Park,” Malone said. “We wanted to make sure it was viable, and that it would continue to serve a great purpose in the community and not become a white elephant that some facilities have become in some Olympic cities.” Another issue he confronted immediately was Y2K. “We had long discussions of what Jones said it’s been a team effort to ensure school stays in session in South Summit. “I attribute the success to everybody stepping up and coming together,” she said. “With the help of custodial, transportation, food service, teachers, paraeducators, administrators and support staff in the schools and in the district, we’re making it work the best way we can. “The challenge lies in giving students the resources they need while not overburdening our faculty, which is our greatest resource.” Jones said that as of Tuesday the district had fewer than five positive cases of COVID-19, including faculty, staff and students, while additional students have had to quarantine due to close contact. “I believe the attentiveness of our staff to following our school reopening protocols and having the Wednesday blended-learning day for Kamas schools and Fridays for Silver Summit has been helpful in managing the balance between public health and academic success,” she said. The biggest challenge the district has faced this first quarter back? Fear, Jones said. “Students and parents fear schools closing and doing online learning again,” she said. “Some faculty fear for their personal safety and well-being or (the well-being of) those that live in their home or who they pro- vide care for such as elderly parents. Concern that we are providing the learning experience our students need, despite the constraint of a pandemic.” Over the summer the district underwent a “massive” technology upgrade to support blended learning, Jones said, and that, too, has been a challenge — as has the work of managing the pandemic itself. “Contact tracing is very time and labor intensive,” she said. “Every positive case takes at least four hours of time to determine people near them that will need to be quarantined and then providing the most effective communication to those students and their parents. So far, our school nurse has personally contacted everybody to answer questions and provide health information.” ers helps all students in Park City succeed,” PCEA Co-president Amanda Lawing wrote in an email to The Park Record. “Therefore, we support the additional time for teachers to make these connections.” The board also discussed moving to an early release each day of the week, but board members opted for the Friday-only option when they were told it had the overwhelming support of respondents in a survey sent to district parents and teachers. Amy Hunt, the district’s chief academic officer, said that 80% of parents and staff members who responded to the survey supported the plan for an early release on Friday. Both options would shave the same amount of time from the school week, and the decision facing board members was whether to allocate that time in one chunk or throughout the week. According to the survey results, teachers preferred releasing students early each day rather than an earlier release on Fridays. A majority favored either option for adding additional time to handle the needs of remote learners. Peters, who said she was speaking as a working parent, suggested that a daily early release schedule might be more disruptive for families than arranging for additional child care one day per week. She also pointed out that maintaining the Monday early release and adding the half-day Friday essentially means that district parents who have children in grades eight through 12 will only have three normal working days per week. Peters asked Hunt whether the district had discussed extending the school day Monday through Thursday and making Fridays fully remote, adding that might be an easier arrangement for working parents. Hunt told the board that moving to fully-remote Fridays had been the most popular option with teachers in an informal survey circulated among their ranks, but that the district had not polled the community about it. Representatives from the teachers’ union did not respond to a request for comment about the proposal for Fridays to be fully remote days. Board members suggested that they would like to check in with teachers, parents and students in coming weeks to see how the new schedule is working. It is expected the schedule change will cost more than $65,000, largely due to needing additional bus routes. The board’s conversation came hours after the Wasatch County School District announced it would cancel in-person learning at its high school for two weeks in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19. have also adapted well. “Our teachers have been amazing with making this school year a success to this point,” he said. “The students have been great at wearing their masks at the elementary school and middle school. Overall, the high school students have been really good. We do have a small percentager of kids who need to be reminded tot keep their masks up.” a The mask mandate at all Utaha schools, Holmes said, has presentedd a challenge of its own, as the districtf has had to “see and understand” argu-c ments for and against it in the com-a munity. “Navigating that has been diffi-o cult,” he said. “Also, we run intod things weekly that we didn’t neces-a sarily think about when we put ouri plan (for reopening schools) together.c Making those adjustments has beenh challenging.” i In a largely rural community,t Holmes said, remote learning hast been challenging for some families. “We have tried to accommodate allo of their individual needs, which hasw been quite a task,” he said. “At thist point, the challenges have been worthd what we have been able to accom-e plish.” Holmes said the district plans toe continue with fully in-person and ful-d ly remote learning options. A hybridi model, he said, is not currently on thec table. v t Park City board members suggest-t ed they might be faced with a similaro decision in coming months as case numbers are expected to rise. r Gildea told the board that she sus-c pected the Utah Department of Edu-f cation would be issuing guidance tot enable a shorter quarantine period fore close contacts of people who havee tested positive for COVID-19. Instead of waiting 14 days to reenter the schools, students would be able to come back after the seventh day following exposure if they test negative for the virus that day. Gildea said evidence had shown that only 1.2% of close contacts end up being diagnosed with COVID-19. The shorter quarantine wouldn’t apply to students who have been in close contact while not wearing a mask, like those who eat lunch together, but would apply to students whose contact comes in the classroom, like those who sit at a desk next to a student who is infected. Gildea indicated that spread in the classroom setting was less prevalent than spread among friend groups outside of school, sports teams and families. Board President Andrew Caplan said the data suggests that students are safer in school than outside of it, where mask use and social distancing measures may not be enforced as consistently. that was going to look like in terms of the New Year, and whether or not people would come to ski over the holidays at that time,” Malone said. After Y2K passed without incident, the 2002 Games talks resumed, but shifted dramatically after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. “There were a couple of days thereafter that many people involved with the Olympics were curious of whether we were going to have any Olympics that year,” Malone said. An email from Mitt Romney, who was leading the Salt Lake City Olympic Organizing Committee, quelled those doubts. “I recall Mitt saying that we needed to focus on bringing smiles on people’s faces,” Malone said. “Then once the torch arrived in Park City the day before opening ceremonies, we were well on our way, and it was a memorable 17 days of work.” Other challenges Malone faced throughout his time at the Chamber/ Bureau were the Great Recession and the legal battle between former Park City Mountain Resort owner Powdr Corp. and Talisker Land Holdings, LLC, which ultimately resulted in Vail Resorts’ acquisition of the ski area. “There was a lot of anxiety the local businesses were going through at that time,” Malone said. But the sale to Vail Resorts brought a new dynamic to town, and the resort underwent a series of upgrades in the terrain, snowmaking and dining facilities, according to Malone. “We reached the point where we began attracting more luxury properties like the Montage,” he said. While Park City is primarily known as a winter-sport destination, tourism in the summer months has grown during Malone’s tenure at the Chamber/Bureau with the popularity of events like the Park City Kimball Arts Festival, Park City Institute’s Big Stars, Bright Nights summer concerts and the Tour of Utah bicycle race. “We really began utilizing the infrastructure that was built basically for the winter, and pivoting what summer could be about into a much stronger effort,” Malone said. “That brought the advent of more meeting spaces with hotels and lodges, which has driven a growth in terms of how we can introduce people to this beautiful place. I feel very proud when I hear stories of people who have decided to relocate and stay after visiting here vacation.” North Summit School District The North Summit School District has returned with a typical schedule of in-person instruction five days a week as well as a fully remote option for students. So far, said Superintendent Jerre Holmes, the district has been “extremely pleased” with the results. Holmes said his district has had only one positive case of COVID-19, contracted by a teacher. Holmes said the district appreciates parents who have shown a willingness to adapt to new and difficult circumstances. Teachers and students c Direct Importer of the World’s Finest Rugs A t t h e H i s t o r i c Vi l l a T h e a t r e Views overlooking the Rees Jones Golf Course 6689 E Moonlight Drive / Victory Ranch 4 bd / 5 ba / 3,337 sqft / Offered at $2,665,000 Matthew Sidford REALTOR® matthew@sidfordrealestate.com 435.962.4544 sidfordrealestate.com Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed accurate. Buyer to verify all information. 3092 So. Highland Dr., Salt Lake City (801)484-6364 888.445.RUGS (7847) Mon.-Sat. 10 am to 6 pm |