In-person success for Mountain schools

The San Juan School District concluded their second quarter of instruction just ahead of the winter break.

In the Mountain Region, which includes schools in Blanding, Monticello, and La Sal, students are learning in person.

Assistant Superintendent Juile Holt reports that in the secondary schools, 85-percent of students are on track to pass their classes.

Those numbers are high in comparison to the alternative of doing online school through a third-party software program. Of the secondary students using the online option, just 32-percent are currently on track to pass their classes.

Holt says the district has seen significant improvements in numbers as students engage in face-to-face learning.

The San Juan School District continues to evaluate their COVID-19 re-entry plan for both regions. As part of the latest meeting of the school board on January 20, elected officials discussed changes to the Utah High School Activities (UHSAA) rules regarding spectators at games.

In early January, the UHSAA announced that each student athlete can bring up to four guests into games as long as the crowd does not exceed 25 percent of the venue capacity. At the same time, the Association is forbidding the creation of student sections, formal or informal.

Implementation of the policy at school activities at Monticello and San Juan high schools has seen the district limit entry into the game to family members, with some flexibility for elderly acquaintances who are “like grandparents.”

The district’s limiting the entrants to family members is an effort to prevent the creation of student sections.

The school board also heard a proposal for the use of land located just north of Monticello High School.

This summer, the district leveled an old, district-owned home just north of the LDS seminary building. The proposed use for the land includes use of an available shed, the creation of a greenhouse and garden area, and additional parking.

District Career and Technical Education (CTE) Director Kit Mantz explained the old shed on the property is structurally sound. Mantz says the building needs electricity, water and heat, but these utilities should be easily accessible.

Monument Valley, Whitehorse, and San Juan high schools all have greenhouses. Mantz says the cost to build the greenhouse is about $40,000 and added that grants may be available to help cover the cost.

The board did not vote to approve the project at the January meeting, asking for more details about the ongoing cost associated with utilities.

San Juan Record

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