School reopening entails the process of putting in place policies, procedures and financing to enable safe school operations, the recovery of learning losses and ensuring children’s right to education. It requires a multilayered mitigation strategy that includes fostering trust and communications among students, teachers, families and local communities, as well as implementing comprehensive virus testing, tracking and quarantine practices.
The city’s current policy focuses on maintaining schools and classrooms open for at least five days per week. Families of elementary-age students and those with significant disabilities whose homes are within three miles of a school have been given the option to return for in-person classes or stay home and learn remotely via hybrid instruction. Those who choose to return must complete a learning preference survey before they are allowed to attend in person and are required to participate in ongoing surveillance testing (a nasal swab for molecular detection of viral genetic material) and be placed in quarantine.
Emily Niehaus didn’t plan on opening a new school, but she did when she realized the options in her rural community of Moab, Utah, were not serving her son’s educational needs. He is a “2e” student, meaning that he is both academically gifted and has an intellectual disability, and she had been struggling to find the right fit for him.
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