The Logan City School Board of Education meets virtually on Tuesday, June 16, 2020
LOGAN – On Tuesday, the Logan School Board came together to discuss possible challenges of the upcoming school year. One of the main issues was student travel. Logan School District Superintendent Frank Schofield expressed concern about overnight travel, particularly.
“Due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the board has not yet approved any overnight travel for students during the 2020 and 2021 school year,” Schofield said. “For obvious reasons, we weren’t sure about the safety of travel and events being cancelled and whether we could recoup money that had been spent on hotel reservations, flights, etc.”
School Board members Frank Stewart and Larry Williams said that students, parents, and school leaders must be prepared for a potential second wave of COVID-19. School trips planned in November and December have not been cancelled yet, but they warn that parents and teachers must be cautious about future planning.
“We also have to be flexible because we don’t know what’s going to happen, and I think as we go forward in time that we have to deal with things on a case-by-case basis and make that decision,” Williams explained. “I hesitate to make it a blanket decision for a specific time period.”
The board has not made any payments toward trips students may be taking. Fundraising for any planned trips is something that will be put on hold until the board can make a final decision.
Kristie Cooley voiced her concerns on any travel that might take place outside of the county, whether it was an overnight trip or not. Schofield, however, stated that Bear River High School is outside of the county, but still in their region. The same precautions towards riding on a bus outside of the county would still apply to students riding on a bus to a school nearby.
Superintendent Schofield said the district is not making any definitive decisions right now, other than delaying approval of any overnight travel. When and if a school has a request for an overnight travel event, they can bring that before the board for a discussion.