Families at Union Public Schools will have until the end of next week to select virtual or in-person instruction for the second semester of the 2020-21 school year.
The deadline to sign students up for either mode of learning in the spring is 10 p.m. Oct. 30. Parents should complete the electronic form — available in both English and Spanish at unionps.org — for each child enrolled at the district.
About 35% of students across Union Public Schools enrolled in virtual learning for the fall semester, with 65% opting for in-person learning.
“So far we have been pleased with the way the first semester has gone, as our students and staff have been diligent in their efforts to make in-person school as safe as possible,” Superintendent Kirt Hartzler said in a news release. “With fully one-third of our students working from home, this has provided us with greater flexibility when it comes to physical distancing. That, combined with mandatory mask-wearing, has helped us to limit exposure to Covid-19. We have been very fortunate in that we have not yet had to close any school buildings, but we continue to closely monitor the situation daily.”
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On Monday, the district reported that 16 total students were in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, while another 334 were in quarantine due to having close contact with infected individuals.
Seven staff members also have tested positive for COVID-19 and are in isolation, while 33 staff members are being quarantined for close contact.
Union administrators originally pushed for the district to start the school year through distance learning due to the ongoing pandemic. That plan was rejected by the school board, which ruled in favor of in-person instruction.
The virtual option was implemented to give families that didn’t feel comfortable with sending their kids back to school during the pandemic another option.
Virtual learning at Union Public Schools is a one-semester commitment. A student’s teacher could change during the semester depending on enrollment numbers and the demand for virtual or in-person learning.
Administrators maintain distance learning still could be implemented if a school or entire district must close because of an outbreak. Students would work remotely using district-owned laptops or iPad devices.
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High school football: Week 8’s top games include Union-Norman North
High school football: Week 8's top games include Broken Arrow-Edmond Santa Fe; Union-Norman North; Jenks-Yukon
Week 8 high school football
Week 7 coverage: Scores | Owasso-Southmoore photos | Bixby-Sand Springs photos | Victory Christian-Metro Christian photos | Union finally plays first home game | Broken Arrow-Yukon highlights (video) | Additional coverage
Week 8 previews: Must-see game is Norman North-Union | Metro Christian's Malachi Penland feature | OSSAA opens playoffs to all | OSSAA allows coaches rankings for playoff seeds | Week 8's top games
Week Zero coverage | Week 1 coverage | Week 2 coverage | Week 3 coverage | Week 4 coverage | Week 5 coverage | Week 6 coverage
1. District 6AI-1: No. 3 Broken Arrow at No. 5 Edmond Santa Fe
The outlook: Broken Arrow tries to avenge last year's 23-21 home loss that helped Santa Fe win the district title.
Records: Broken Arrow 4-2, 2-1; Edmond Santa Fe 4-2, 3-0
Key players for Broken Arrow
Jake Rainers has connected on 60-of-99 passes for 905 yards and seven TDs; Maurio Horns and Sanchez Banks (pictured) have combined for 1,054 rushing yards and 13 TDs; RJ Spears-Jennings has 22 catches for 392 yards and two TDs.
Key players for Edmond Santa Fe
Talyn Shettron (pictured), a Power-5 recruit, has 27 catches for 400 yards and seven TDs this season -- last year against Broken Arrow he had nine receptions for 173 yards, including a 33-yarder that set up Santa Fe's winning field goal with two seconds left; Scott Pfeiffer has connected on 77-of-122 passes for 1,171 yards and 15 TDs; Ethan Hyche has 938 rushing yards and 14 TDs; OSU defensive end/linebacker commit Collin Oliver; offensive tackle Jonathan Ashford.
Quotable: Broken Arrow coach David Alexander
"Last year, we turned the ball over too much against Santa Fe and we didn't know enough to double (Shettron) -- he's a special talent. Their running back (Hyche) is really good and their offensive tackle (Ashford) blocks out the sun. With Oliver, you have to run right at him because he is so fast, so athletic, he will chase down everything. ... Our defense has improved over the last two weeks."
Notable and series history
Notable: Santa Fe is coming off an open date after its game at Jenks was called off due to Jenks' COVID issues. Broken Arrow is coming off a dramatic 27-22 victory at Yukon as Raines passed 11 yards to Keyon Barnett for the winning TD with seven seconds left.
Series history: Broken Arrow leads 6-3, but the teams have split the past four meetings.
2. 6AI-2: No. 7 Norman North at No. 4 Union
The outlook: The winner will likely finish as the district runner-up behind Owasso. These two teams met for the state title in 2016 -- Union won 57-43.
Records: Norman North 4-2, 3-1; Union 2-4, 2-1
Notable
Union has scored 128 points in its past two games after producing only 21 during an 0-4 start against the state's top four teams. Both teams have lost to Owasso -- Union 34-14 and Norman North 33-22.
Series history
Union leads 7-1 with its only loss, 30-24, during the 2016 regular season. Union won 48-13 last year as quarterback Rovaughn Banks (pictured) accounted for 253 yards and two TDs.
3. 6AI-1: No. 6 Yukon at No. 2 Jenks
The outlook: Jenks, coming off a quarantine week, can move into the district lead with a win and Broken Arrow win over Edmond Santa Fe. Yukon is coming off a 27-22 loss to Broken Arrow.
Records: Yukon 4-3, 2-2; Jenks 4-1, 2-0
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Series history
Jenks leads 9-0, dating back to a 56-8 win in the 1997 6A state final. Last year, Jenks won 68-13 as Stephen Kittleman (pictured) completed 12-of-16 passes for 288 yards and three TDs.
4. 5A-4: Pryor at No. 7 Sapulpa
The outlook: These programs meet for the first time since 1979 as Pryor tries to stay undefeated in district play while Sapulpa needs a win to have a good shot at finishing second in 5A-4.
Records: Pryor 5-1, 3-0; Sapulpa 5-2, 3-1
Series history
Sapulpa leads 8-3 with all the meetings in the 1970s, except for Sapulpa's 33-7 win in 1921.
5. 6AI-2: No. 1 Owasso at No. 8 Mustang
The outlook: Owasso's 24-10 win last year was the first meeting as head coaches between first cousins Bill Blankenship (Owasso) and Lee Blankenship (Mustang).
Records: Owasso 7-0, 4-0; Mustang 4-3, 2-2
Notable
Derrick Overstreet (pictured) had career highs of 17 rushes for 120 yards in the win over Mustang last year while Cole Adams had two catches for 97 yards and a TD.
Best of the rest : 4A-3: Bristow (4-3, 3-1) at No. 5 Skiatook (4-1, 2-0)
The teams haven't met since Skiatook's 35-34 win in 1993. This will be the third game in nine days for each team. (Records were before Monday's game.)
Best of the rest: 4A-3: Miami (0-7, 0-4) at Catoosa (0-7, 0-4)
This will be the happiest night of the season for the winner.
Best of the rest: 4A-3: Oologah (2-2, 2-0) at No. 1 Wagoner (7-0, 4-0)
Wagoner defeated Oologah in three consecutive 4A state finals from 2014-16. This will be the third game in nine days for Oologah (record before Monday's game at Grove).
Best of the rest: 5A-3: Shawnee (4-2, 4-0) at No. 5 Coweta (6-1, 4-0)
Both teams still have to face top-ranked Bishop Kelley in the race for the district title.
Best of the rest: 2A-8: Sperry (4-3, 3-1) at Claremore Sequoyah (5-1, 3-0)
A win keeps Sequoyah on course for a district title showdown against Adair in Week 10.
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