Park City School Board recommends mask use for all students

"The Summit County Council, County Manager, and County Health Director are committed to taking necessary action available to them within the confines of the law to protect students this school year," the Summit County Health Department said in a statement. Photo: Park City School District

PARK CITY, Utah — At the Park City School Board meeting on Tuesday, August 17, the district reiterated its recommendation that students wear masks during the upcoming school year.

The Park City Education Association also said that it wants masks on all students. “Masks can get us past this pandemic,” a member said.

“The Summit County Council, County Manager, and County Health Director are committed to taking necessary action available to them within the confines of the law to protect students this school year,” said the Summit County Health Department in a Wednesday statement.

“The Summit County Attorney’s Office is working closely with the State School Board and State Superintendent to come to an accord regarding authority and legal consent. We recognize this is an important issue to parents, teachers, and students and will release updates as soon as we learn more about the options available to us.

“Parents, teachers, and school administrators can make a difference by strongly encouraging the use of masks and carefully considering which activities outside of the classroom may contribute to potential exposures and spread of COVID-19 and its highly contagious Delta variant among students.”

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall recently asked the Salt Lake City School Board to recommend a mask requirement for K-6 students.

My #1 concern is the health of unvaccinated children who are about to gather in school. Today I asked the SLC School Board to determine if they support a requirement for life-saving masks in schools. Pending that support I’m prepared to put an order in place for our district.

— Mayor Erin Mendenhall (@slcmayor) August 17, 2021

She believes that city attorneys found a legal loophole that would allow her to issue the mandate.

The Park City School Board emphasized they were focused on indoor air quality in school buildings. They also have a new shipment of KN95 masks sent from the state that they are going to distribute this week.

In other matters, the board passed a Collective Commitment on Clean Energy, which outlines four key objectives for the district:

• To purchase sustainable electricity as made available under HB411 as soon as practical, but no later than 2030
• To ensure all additions to schools are built to a minimum LEED Silver Standard (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
• To ensure all additions to schools are designed to achieve less than 35 EIU (Energy Utilization Index)
• To study a transition of the current diesel and propane bus fleet to electrical or other low energy use vehicles

The board also agreed to propose a bond resolution to local voters in the November election. On the ballot is the permit of additional high school classroom spaces for students in grades 9-12, a 6-8 grade middle school, and upgrades for early learning in elementary school.

The ESSER3 grant was also passed, which brings $1.6 million over two years into the school district to assist with the following things: “Closing learning/achievement gaps, extending learning opportunities, capital expense related to reducing transmission of communicable illness, and reengaging learners in K12 experiences.”