PROVO, Utah – The Provo City School District announced their plan for the upcoming school year Tuesday following the board’s meeting.
This year will look much different from last year. The Provo School District is planning on having its students in the classroom five days a week in the upcoming school year.
District spokesperson Caleb Price said students and employees will not be required to wear masks when they come back to class next fall.
“The intention is to allow that to be a voluntary thing,” Price told KSL NewsRadio. “If students or employees feel safer and would like to continue wearing masks, they’re perfectly fine doing that.”
Granite and Davis school districts have already approved five-day-a-week schedules for the coming school year. School boards in the Canyons and Jordan districts are discussing them, and several other districts are still making their plans for next year.
Provo Schools will not require COVID-19 vaccinations
The district will also not require COVID-19 vaccinations for students returning to class.
“We won’t force or require anybody to have the vaccine if they don’t want to have that. So it’s still up to the parents to decide how they want to do that,” Price said.
The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) responded to the announcement made Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in adolescents ages 12 through 15.
Vaccinations for younger students are still waiting for an emergency use authorization from federal authorities.
Regular vaccinations such as measles and chicken pox will still be required for school enrollment unless parents have requested an exemption.
