DRAPER, Utah — Draper Park Middle School will take all classes online temporarily beginning Tuesday, the first middle school to do so in the state.
At least 15 students tested positive for COVID-19 and 80 students are in quarantine according to Canyons School District spokesperson Jeff Haney.
“It’s the largest middle school in the Canyons School District,” said Haney who said roughly 1,600 students attend the school.
Not only is COVID-19 spiking in the school, it’s also rising in the surrounding community.
“We’ve heard in recent days about the increase in cases in Draper and all of that was taken into consideration when we made this decision to move to this online only for the next two weeks at Draper Park Middle,” said Haney.
More than 600 COVID-19 cases are linked to schools in Utah.
In the Canyons District, half of the high schools are temporarily online, including Corner Canyon, Brighton and Alta.
Granger and Olympus High Schools started online Thursday in the Granite School District.
On Monday, Lone Peak, American Fork and Orem High Schools will join Timpanogos High with hybrid schedules in the Alpine School District.
In Draper, the district hopes the actions will help slow the spread that is now reaching younger students.
“It’s our way of hopefully stopping any transmission in the school. It’s obviously a safety precaution and we are confident that our teachers will be able to pivot really well.”
There will be no school Friday for students. Monday will be a prep day for Draper Park teachers to move instruction online for two weeks.
