MIDDLETON, Idaho — Students in the Middleton School District, which has previously operated on a four-day school week, will be required to attend class via remote learning on Fridays in order to make up school days lost to the coronavirus pandemic, trustees agreed on Wednesday.
The move comes after the first day of school was pushed back to Sept. 8. Board members also considered continuing the four-days-a-week model, but extending the school year out beyond Memorial Day to end June 10, 2021.
Ultimately, the added Friday option had more support from parents, the district says.
Schools are slated to reopen for in-person learning, and the district has said its goal is to keep students in class whenever possible.
The school board also voted unanimously to use Southwest District Health Department's rolling seven-day average of positive COVID cases for Middleton's zip code. If schools were to open today, they would do so in the yellow category; two weeks ago Middleton was in the red category.
Students, teachers and staff are "encouraged" to wear masks or face shields in the classroom, and social distance when possible, but the district reopening plan stops short of making face coverings mandatory.
Trustees discussed changing the reopening plan to give teachers with health concerns some options in the event that students don't wear a mask in their classroom, but did not take an official vote Wednesday.
At KTVB, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: www.ktvb.com/coronavirus.
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