Canyons School Board votes to seek state waiver of 2 required courses

Canyons School Board votes to seek state waiver of 2 required courses

(Ferre Dollar, CNN, File)


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SANDY — In a Tuesday night meeting that spilled over into the early hours of Wednesday, the Canyons Board of Education voted shortly before midnight to seek a waiver of two state-required courses for middle schoolers.

After hours of public comment from patrons who packed a standing room-only board chamber and an overflow room, the board also voted to change school day configurations at three middle schools — Eastmont, Indian Hills and Mount Jordan — moving to seven-period days from six periods in the next academic year.

The waiver would effectively press the pause button on implementing a state-required Digital Literacy course for eighth-graders and a full-year Career and College Awareness to be taken by sixth-graders.

Canyons board member Nancy Tingey urged the district administration to seek an open-ended waiver, noting the State School Board is "leaning toward more flexibility for these types of decisions."

The board also voted to conduct a survey of parents to better gauge their views on school day configurations.

Mike Sirois, the district's director of school performance and accountability, noted that while much of the public comment during Tuesday's meeting involved Draper Park Middle School, there was no application before the board to change its six-period school day.

Parents, students and educators addressed the school board for several hours, some urging the adoption of a seven- and possibly even an eight-period school day, up from six periods, to accommodate mandated requirements while maintaining electives, language and arts programs.

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The school district launched a review of its schedules after the state added a requirement that all eighth-graders, starting in the 2018-19 academic year, take the Digital Literacy course.

The State Office of Education has also required that a full-year Career and College Awareness class be taken by students in sixth grade.

Last Friday, the State Board of Education voted to allow school districts to apply for waivers of the required classes for the upcoming school year.

It also called the creation of a task force to study all state-mandated courses. The task force is expected to complete its work by spring, which will inform any further action by the state board.

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