SALT LAKE CITY — If Salt Lake City remains at an orange risk level for COVID-19, school district officials will enact distance- learningfor students in all schools, meaning no students in the classroom.
A grassroots group of parents is very much opposed to that and wants to let school officials know that distance-learning is not the way to go.
Organizers say they realize the dangers of COVID-19, but argue that another semester of distance-learning is also dangerous, especially for the students.
“We have a very diverse group of students and remote learning does not resolve many of the issues,” Mary Catherine Perry said. “We know from this past spring, many of those students didn’t even log on, they disappeared, and we can’t have that happen again."
Perry says schools in districts all around the valley are planning to reopen, and thinks Salt Lake can also make the schools safe for teachers, staff and students.
“Salt Lake City is being treated like an island and our students are and our schools are," Perry said. "Why a school three miles away can open five days-a-week and we can’t doesn’t seem right or fair and so we believe we can make our schools just as safe as they believe they can and we want to help do that.”
The group is planning a rally outside the Salt Lake School District offices Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.
Perry said the group has a message they want the district to hear:
“That we want to make our schools safe and we want to make them open and we want to have our players on the field.”The rally will adhere to state COVID-19 guidelines including social distancing and face coverings, Perry said.