For the first time in the school year, Alpine School District is facing a spike in COVID-19 cases in its schools. According to the district’s website, all schools will have emergency at-home learning on Friday and Tuesday. Monday, students will not be in school due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

According to the district website, “The adjusted schedule will provide an opportunity to minimize the substantial spread among students and employees.”

In addition to COVID, the district pointed to student and staff absenteeism as a reason for moving online.

Positive cases have been increasing through the district; there are currently 1,023 active cases out of 83,796 students. On Sunday, there were 289 cases – a number which has risen exponentially through the week. There were 492 reported positives on Monday and 820 on Tuesday.

Four high schools have also been moved to “Test to Stay” status. Test to Stay protocols are implemented for a school if there are more than 30 positive cases, or if 2% of the student body is positive in a school with more than 1,500 students. The participating schools are:

• Orem High School — Test to Stay will be held Jan. 19. With a population of 1,264, there are 42 positive cases for 3.33% of the student body.
• Lone Peak High School — Test to Stay will be held Jan. 20. With a population of 2,450, there are 52 positive cases for 2.12% of the student body.
• American Fork High School — Test to Stay will be held Jan. 21. With a population of 2,399, there are 70 positive cases for 2.92% of the student body.
• Mountain View High School — The Test to Stay date had not been announced as of Wednesday evening. With a population of 1,412, there are 32 positive cases for 2.27% of the student body.

In addition to these four, other schools are nearing the Test to Stay qualifications. Cedar Valley High School, which has the largest student population at 2,674 people, has 50 positive cases for 1.87%. Cedar Valley would meet the requirement with 54 total positive cases.

Oak Canyon Middle School also has 30 positive cases and would go into the protocols with one more. Sego Lily Elementary School has 21 positive cases, the most of any elementary. No elementary schools meet the student population limit for the Test to Stay guidelines.

Updated COVID-19 case numbers will be posted on the district website at alpineschools.org/returntolearn. For the students and families who will be adjusting to remote learning, the district site includes expectations.

The site reads, “Teachers and teaching assistants will work from home and utilize email, Canvas, Google Classroom, or other means of communication to provide learning opportunities for students. All facilities will be sanitized during this emergency at-home learning period and prepared for the return to face-to-face learning next Wednesday. The nutrition services team will work with school administrators to meet the nutritional needs of students at their school. UHSAA activities will continue as scheduled. Games and practices will be determined and communicated by the school administration. We highly recommend masks and social distancing for those in attendance. We can all help reduce the spread by following the guidelines outlined on the Return to Learn webpage. We appreciate your support and efforts to help our students, employees, families, and school communities.”

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