Eastmont School District Will Start Year on Schedule

The Eastmont School District announced the school year will begin on Wednesday, August 26th after concerns of a possible delay were dropped. Supt. Garn Christensen said last Monday, the School Board approved a delayed start to as late as August 31st because a student data transfer project was well behind schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Christensen said a decision was expected by Friday and he announced the decision late Friday afternoon that the school year will proceed as scheduled.

In a statement late Friday afternoon, Supt. Christensen said "After consultation this afternoon with principals, district leaders, teacher leadership, and our technology department, Eastmont will be starting school on our scheduled start date
of Wednesday, August 26, 2020. Class rosters and schedules for Eastmont students in grades K-7 are confirmed and
teachers will begin working next week with students. Schedules and class rosters for Eastmont Junior High and Eastmont High School are still being finalized and will be delivered to students once confirmed and tested for accuracy. This is anticipated to be completed by the 26th. Students at all levels will initially be participating in activities to confirm passwords and ensure Chromebooks are all working. Accessibility to needed programs will be tested and electronic communications with both students and parents established. Expectations for daily student activities, common weekly expectations, and other details will also be reviewed. Our goal as a district is to provide a better quality remote learning experience, yet our priority continues to be to return all students to campus as soon as safely possible. We understand this will only be accomplished with slow, incremental steps and with all safeguards in place. Further communication on this process will be shared once we begin this process. As Superintendent, I anticipate a few bumps in the first week or two of school. This is because some of the upgrades we initiated early summer to improve our ability to communicate and deliver technology in preparation for a possible remote start have not gone as smoothly as hoped and parts and equipment have been delayed. Please know we are very aware of these issues and working hard to remedy them and make this
situation work better for students, families, and our educators"