Here in Park City, we are fortunate to have strong partnerships that support and bolster our students, our families and our staff.  However, we are not immune to global and national influence on our local community and economy.  

According to a recent K12 Leader Pulse Survey published by XanEdu, “To say our nation’s educators are facing challenging times is a vast understatement. Complexities around schooling during a global pandemic coupled with shifting regulations, needs, and opportunities make the state of 2022 a landmark moment…”

Together our School and District Administrators, Employee Groups, Students, and Partners such as PCEF and our Board of Education came together in a special work session on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, to brainstorm, problem solve, and prioritize both quick win and long term solutions to pressing challenges including workload, staffing, and overall well-being. 

These urgent issues parallel findings across national surveys and address climate and culture, employee recruitment and retention, and pandemic impact such as absences on overall academic achievement. 

Our teams brainstormed and categorized ideas, our Board of Education provided direction and priorities from the lists, and action plans are rapidly emerging. We will continue to hold our core vision and mission as central to decision-making. Some priorities include allocating time - time for planning and preparation, time to connect with students, and time for educators and staff to attend to overall health, well-being and self-care at this time of incredible challenge. 

This time may be reallocated through “no meeting weeks” which provides an additional 2-3 hours per week for educators and staff, “flex Fridays” which would provide educators and staff flexibility in their calendar after students exit, and encouraging student projects/assignments to have a Friday deadline to ensure students have a weekend break.  We’re also studying the potential of providing notice for some Fridays to be reallocated to teacher professional preparation which would impact the school calendar for this second semester of 2022.

We appreciate the breadth and variety of solutions and ideas that have come forward and will continue to prioritize overall health and well-being, innovative approaches that support students and staff, and will share other plans as they are finalized. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Jill Gildea

Superintendent of Schools

Park City School District