Superintendent's Newsletter - January 21, 2021

Dear Salt Lake City School District community:

This week, the Salt Lake City School District Board of Education voted to move forward with an in-person learning option for secondary schools beginning on February 8, 2021. Under the proposal that was approved on Tuesday night, secondary students would attend school two days a week. Wednesdays would remain a digital learning day, and high school students would have the flexibility to choose which classes to attend in person and which classes to attend remotely. These measures will help ensure manageable class sizes in some of the largest schools in the district. For families who feel their students would be best served via remote learning, this will still continue to be an option.

I would not have made this proposal to the Board of Education if I did not feel we can keep our students, teachers, and staff safe. Our schools and custodial teams have put comprehensive plans in place to mitigate the risks of spreading COVID-19 in our schools and classrooms. You can read our plans for cleaning and disinfecting schools on our website. 

Tuesday’s vote provides families and students with a choice. Regardless of whether your students continue to learn remotely or in person, please know we are committed to providing the best educational services possible. We are here to support you and your students in any way we can. 

COVID-19 TESTING

Salt Lake County continues to offer free COVID-19 rapid testing at the Maverik Overflow parking lot, 2050 W. 3100 S., West Valley City, Utah. Testing is offered Monday-Saturday, 10 AM- 3 PM. Pre-registration is recommended. You can register online at https://slco.org/health/COVID-19/testing/public-testing/ or by calling (385) 468-4082.

FOOD FOR FAMILIES

The Salt Lake Education Foundation will distribute food for families on the following dates and at the following locations. 

Thursday, January 21, 2021 

• Glendale Community Learning Center (1388 S. Navajo Street (1340 W.), Salt Lake City, Utah)
  10:30 AM-12:30 PM
• Liberty Community Learning Center (1078 S. 300 E., Salt Lake City, Utah)
  2:30-5:30 PM  

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

• Rose Park Community Learning Center (1105 W. 1000 N., Salt Lake City, Utah)
  3:00-5:00 PM

EMPLOYEE VACCINATIONS

Last week’s vaccination clinics for our employees were a huge success. Thank you to our school teams, district nurses, and Community Nursing Services for making the clinics possible and for helping us vaccinate 800 educators and staff. This week, we have been allocated 300 vaccines, which will mean we will have vaccinated nearly one-third of our 3,500 employees. 

We receive information every Monday about the number of vaccine doses allocated to us for the week. Because of that, we don’t know when we will finish offering vaccine appointments to all our employees, but we anticipate all employees will have an opportunity to be vaccinated in the very near future. We will continue to hold weekly vaccination clinics until all employees have an opportunity to receive both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Sincerely,

Larry Madden
Interim Superintendent
Salt Lake City School District