SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Sept. 10, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake City School District has delayed its first day of classes until Monday.
The district had originally delayed classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then windstorms in northern Utah early this week knocked out power to some schools and many students. In addition, the city and private citizens have been laboring to clear tree limbs and debris from affected areas.
“After meeting with representatives from the city, Rocky Mountain Power, and our district leadership, we have decided to cancel school on Friday,” said Larry Madden
Interim Superintendent, in a notice issued Thursday afternoon.
“Monday will be the first day of school for Salt Lake City School District. We know this will be disappointing news for many who are anxious to start the school year. We are anxious to get back into the virtual classroom too. But to start tomorrow, when many across Salt Lake City may still not have power, is not the right decision.
“I want to offer my deepest apologies to our students and families, to our employees, and to all those who have been impacted by our decisions this week. I know many teachers AND students were already online on Tuesday and today when they received news of the school cancellations. We are grateful for your patience and for your flexibility.”
Madden acknowledge the pandemic, the search for strategies to increase student and staff safety, and now weather-related delays have been stressful.
“We know the day to day uncertainty has added additional stress to you, and we hope that the knowledge that school will be delayed until Monday will help families across the city get through the rest of the week while recovering from the impacts of the storm,” he wrote.
“And we hope this will also help many of our students, especially our students with disabilities or other struggles, for whom consistency and dependability are especially crucial. Even if every family had electricity tomorrow, we know many are still dealing with loss and destruction of property. We hope this additional time will help our families and students and teachers be ready to start with a clean slate on Monday.”
Madden said Grab and Go meals will be available at the normal times and regular locations starting Friday.
“You can find all the information you need about student meals on our website.
“To those who went to great lengths this week to make sure their students were able to get online, thank you for your dedication and your commitment. We are equally committed to making sure our students get the best education we can offer, and we will be ready for them on Monday morning.”
