Weekly District Update - Jan. 20, 2022

Weekly District Update - Jan. 20, 2022
Posted on 01/20/2022
This is the image for the news article titled Weekly District Update - Jan. 20, 2022In response to direction from state officials late last week, Uintah School District announced a COVID Contingency Plan on Wednesday. The district is no longer tracking, monitoring or reporting positive student cases of COVID-19 because any attempt to do so under the current circumstances would be speculation. USD schools will no longer conduct contact tracing when informed of a positive case. Anyone who has spent any time in public settings over the past two weeks should assume they have been exposed to COVID-19, according to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.

The district has shifted its focus to internally monitoring each school’s capacity to safely provide in-person learning for students. As part of this effort, the district has implemented an incentive program for substitutes. Each time a substitute works five days they will receive a $100 bonus, regardless of the substitute rate they currently receive. The bonus will be paid in their monthly paycheck. This incentive program is in effect for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year. It isn’t retroactive to days worked prior to Jan. 20, but is applicable to all substitute positions (food workers, teaching assistants, secretaries, teachers, etc.)

The district is also suspending Friday in-person learning for the next six weeks, beginning tomorrow, Jan. 21. Students will attend classes online on Fridays during this time. This will provide teachers with more time to plan for and respond to the large number of students who are absent and learning online. The exception is students in special education Life Skills classrooms, who will continue with their current Friday in-person schedule.

To read the full contingency plan, click HERE.

Anyone who is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 should not come to school. Those who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate for five days from the day they are tested, even if they don’t have symptoms or feel sick. Students who must isolate due to a positive test result should attend classes online. They may return to in-person learning after five days if they are fever-free without medication for at least 24 hours and their symptoms have improved.

It is recommended that those who test positive wear a mask around others for five days after the isolation period ends. It is also recommended that they get another COVID-19 test before returning to normal activities (work, school, sports, etc.) to ensure they are no longer spreading the virus.

As a reminder, parents/guardians who wish to pick up free curbside meals for their children must fill out the request form in advance to ensure there are enough meals prepared. The request form can be found HERE.

Free curbside meals are offered on days when school is in session, including when students are attending classes online. Meals are served only from the kitchen at Ashley Elementary School on the following schedule: Breakfast (M-F): 8:30 to 8:45 a.m.; Lunch (M-Th): 12:45 to 1 p.m.; Lunch (Friday): 11 to 11:15 a.m.

Curbside meals for all children 18 and under are FREE. Meals for adults cost $2.15 for breakfast and $3.75 for lunch. Please pay the exact amount due with cash or check. For questions call the USD Foods Department at (435) 781-3185.

On Jan. 13, Uintah Middle School kicked off a 15 Days of Kindness Challenge with an assembly featuring guest speaker Brian Williams, founder of the nonprofit organization Think Kindness. The challenge inspires kids to take responsibility for their community and their actions within their community. Students and staff are working to fill the school with kind actions and words.

Think Kindness is also known for its famous shoe drive, which is a global act of kindness. The UMS Hawks have set a goal to collect 8,000 pairs of gently used athletic shoes by Feb. 11. All the collected sneakers will be distributed by Think Kindness to children and families throughout impoverished regions of Tanzania. Gently used athletic shoes can be dropped off at the Uintah Middle School office during the school day. Visit UMS’s Facebook page for more information.

Congratulations to Uintah High senior Josh Speirs, who scored his 1,000th career point during Tuesday night’s varsity basketball game against the Payson Lions. Coach Brandon Johnson said Speirs is the first player in the known history of UHS to reach this milestone.

Finally, the Uintah U’ettes are headed to Region this weekend. They competed at the Rocky Mountain Drill Invitational last weekend, finishing 4th overall. They received the Judges’ Choice Award for their Military routine. The U’ettes also dominated the individual competitions. Leaira Wilson won the 5A Drill Down, Ashley Glazier placed 4th and KayLee Bell placed 5th. Soloist Addisyn Yack placed 2nd in the Lyrical Division and 3rd in Contemporary, while Kaylyn Sizemore finished 6th in Lyrical.

The region drill competition will take place at Cedar Valley High School on Saturday. The Uintah High School Student Broadcasting Team will stream the Region competition live on www.channelv6.com beginning at 11:30 a.m. Good luck, U’ettes!

NOTE: There won’t be a Weekly District Update published for the week of Jan. 24-28. The next Weekly District Update will be published on Feb. 4.
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NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION

No district employee or student shall be subjected to discrimination in employment or any district program or activity on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status. The district is committed to providing equal access and equal opportunity in its programs, services and employment including its policies, complaint processes, program accessibility, district facility use, accommodations and other Equal Employment Opportunity matters. The district also provides equal access to district facilities for all youth groups. The following persons have been designated as Title IX coordinators to handle inquires and complaints regarding unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation: Dr. Mistalyn Leis, Human Resources Director (435) 781-3100. You may also contact the Office for Civil Rights, Denver, CO, at (303) 844-5695.