SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) â
A group of parents, organized by the group Utah Parents United, plan to ask the Canyons School Board at a Tuesday meeting not teach critical race theory.
That’s according to a post on that group s Facebook page.
It s a term getting a lot of attention these days. Critical race theory examines the ways in which race and racism influence American politics, culture and the law. There seems to be an agreement by people on both sides of the discussion that going through the pages of history is important. It s exactly how it s done that s causing some controversy.
Some Utah school districts have taken the issue of whether students should have to wear masks and put it in parentsâ hands.
Within the last week, three districts â Kane County, San Juan and Iron County â and one Orem charter school have stopped requiring doctorâs notes for students seeking a mask exemption in their schools.
Instead, parents need only sign a form vouching that their children suffer from a medical condition that inhibits their ability to wear a mask. Supporters in the Davis, Weber and Alpine districts, among others, have called for the same approach, at rallies and in letters and calls to administrators.
3 Utah school districts now allow students to skip masks, based on their parentsâ judgment
School mask exemption movement gaining steam even as educators, health officials worry about the risk of coronavirus spread to students, teachers and the community.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Children rip up a large paper mask at a rally protesting government mask mandates at the State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020.
  | April 24, 2021, 3:10 p.m.
Some Utah school districts have taken the issue of whether students should have to wear masks and put it in parentsâ hands.
Within the last week, three districts â Kane County, San Juan and Iron County â and one Orem charter school have stopped requiring doctorâs notes for students seeking a mask exemption in their schools.
Courtesy of Utah Parents United
A group of parents and children protested the ongoing mask requirement in public schools in Davis County on April 10.
Utah’s public school students are required to wear masks in schools, unless they have certain medical conditions. Most schools require a doctor’s note documenting the condition, but at least two school districts in the state are now granting exemptions for students without any proof.
State law says
schools “may” require a doctor’s note in order to grant a mask exemption. But that doesn’t mean they have to, according to Tracy Henderson.
Henderson, who lives in Midvale and has a teenage daughter, is providing legal counsel to a group called Utah Parents United.
| Updated: April 14, 2021, 2:13 a.m.
Adults may have the option to be mask-free in much of Utah, but the lawmaker who sponsored the âendgameâ law that lifted the statewide mandate says residents shouldnât expect K-12 schools to stop requiring masks this school year.
To move up the deadline to lift the K-12 order, âweâd have to do a special session,â said Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield. The Utah Legislature, he added, has no plans to do that before the end of the school year.
As for next fall, Ray said he is optimistic that enough adults and teens will have been vaccinated against the coronavirus that Utahns will be protected by âherd immunity.â