Gov. Gary Herbert announced Thursday that the state was making an adjustment to their Covid-19 risk levels that would allow Salt Lake City students to return to the classroom this fall the fall.
Following the lead of the Trump administration, Herbert has ordered the states K-12 schools to reopen this fall. Salt Lake City is at the “orange” or “moderate” risk level, which prevents students from in-person classroom learning. The shift in the state’s health guidance removes that barrier.
“This will allow them to open up. They’ll work with their school boards tas they prepare their own plan for doing that, but we expect they’ll be able to function in exactly the same way that any other school can do,” said Herbert.
President Trump has been strong-arming public schools across the nation to reopen in the fall, even going so far as to threaten their federal funding. The American Academy of Pediatrics has stressed the importance of students returning to in-person learning, but they disagree with forcing children to go back to class in areas with high levels of Covid-19 spread in the community.
Students attending class in person will be required to wear masks. Herbert said the state will provide those face coverings, but added that some “common sense” exemptions would be given for students who may find wearing a mask difficult.
Utah’s 41 school districts are working to develop plans for their schools to reopen safely in the fall.
Heidi Matthews, President of the Utah Education Association, said Thursday she applauds the move to provide masks to students, but the state has much further to go.
“The local plans, for the most part, are not going far enough to make teachers and students feel safe returning to the classroom,” she said. “We need to see plans that not only allow us to open safely but to stay open. Making this transition with unnecessary haste endangers our students and staff.”
Utah reported more than 900 new cases of Covid-19 in the state on Thursday, but not all of those are new cases. The state’s rolling 7-day average is 619 cases. Herbert has challenged Utahns to get the 7-day average under 500 by August 1.
Herbert has repeatedly acknowledged the easiest way to slow the community spread of the coronavirus is through the widespread use of face coverings. Herbert has declined to issue a statewide order for masks but has granted requests from individual counties to do so.
On Wednesday, a Utah County Commission meeting to discuss the issue of masks in schools was abandoned after a crowd of people not wearing masks showed up to the event. Herbert offered up a “both sides” argument, saying the wearing masks is “not without some controversy.”
“We understand that people have different points of view, and I think we need to respect different opinions,” said Herbert. “We all have the same goal. I would hope that people show regard for those experts who are telling us this will help control the virus,” he said.
One such expert, Dr. Tom Miller, the chief medical officer for University of Utah Health, took part in the weekly press event and offered up a much less vague statement.
“I’m pleading with you to put your mask on. Put it on now. Let’s not put it on next week or next month. Let’s do it now,” he said. “Masks are our medicine right now, at least until we have an effective treatment or a vaccine.”
