The pandemic may have affected student learning in many ways but thankfully, great progress has been made to bridge the gap over the last year. Uintah School District Superintendent Dr. Rick Woodford presented at the Vernal Chamber Luncheon on Tuesday. While the district has always focused on offering a well rounded education, testing showed students generally scoring below state average. One year ago, Uintah administration set the goal to increase student scores above state average by Spring of 2022. Dr. Woodford announced that that goal has already been met. Speaking of the district’s approach during the pandemic, he emphasized that schools need to be open and kids need to be in school. Safety is important, he said, but it’s not the only factor that matters. Preserving family choice is especially important to the district as well as a zero bullying policy over the choice to wear or not wear masks at school. That said, in addition to increased cleaning protocols, the main thing the district is asking is that anyone who is sick stay home. When asked about vaccinations, Dr. Woodford said that vaccines are not required and if the state adds it to the required list of vaccines then it will be treated the same as any other vaccine on that list. Finally, Dr. Woodford mentioned that enrollment is up. Uintah High School has enrollment numbers around 2000 out of the 2300 student capacity.
