Superintendent Lance Hatch took time from his busy schedule to come in for the Carbon School District weekly update to talk about what is new within the district, especially since Governor Gary Herbert announced this week that all schools would remain closed for the remainder of the year.

“There were sure a lingering of hope that maybe the kids could come back to our facilities again. We miss them. The teachers miss the students, and I think the students miss the teachers as well, and not just the teachers but all of the environment and the interactions with each other. It was quite a blow to finally get that ultimate word that kids can’t come back the rest of the year,” said Superintendent Hatch. The district has been busily brainstorming how they will approach the remainder of the school year. They have decided that online school instruction will remain in effect till May 1.

Generally, during the month of May schools would host various awards, recognition assemblies, field trips, but more importantly would conduct year end assessments – which now, none of those things will take place this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  “So beginning on May 4, students will be receiving one activity each day and that activity is going to be a fun, interactive activity. They won’t be responsible for multiple classes, multiple subjects. They will be expected to participate in the one activity that’s going to be fun and interesting,” explained Superintendent Hatch. Because full instruction was not giving this year, during the fourth quarter, this will leave an educational gap for some students. This means that when they return to school next year teachers will have to address that gap with each student. For now, administrators and teachers will brainstorm ideas on how to fill that gap with students for the 2020-2021 academic school year.

The decision to host interactive activities for the month of May was not made lightly. “So really what’s driving this is our desire to make sure that the experience is a positive one. Can you imagine, having our students who are working really hard and a lot of them are struggling to navigate this world of doing all their lessons and the idea that we would continue this level of intensity all the way through May just doesn’t make sense because we wouldn’t be doing that in a normal school year. We would be doing things very different so that’s some of the thinking that went into the plan,” stated Superintendent Hatch.

Students have not been inside the schools since March 13 and many students have personal items left at the schools, plus they have items that belong to the school. Trying to figure out a safe way to pick up personal items and drop off school items is in the planning stages now. “Each school is going to handle that a little bit different but we have to be careful because we follow all the guidelines from the health department. So how do we allow students and parents to come into the school do what they need to do, by picking up what is theirs, dropping off what is ours and take care of all that in a safe, responsible was that can comply with the health department’s guidelines so that is what we are working on,” explained Superintendent Hatch. Students and parents will be notified by the school’s administration on what the plan is for their child’s school.