On Nov. 11, 1918, it was reported that influenza cases in Salt Lake City had dwindled enough that an emergency hospital was closed.

The Armistice Day celebrations put a kink in the plans, however. Because of the large-scale public gatherings, Dr. T. B. Beatty, Utah’s health commissioner, was concerned that the epidemic would once again begin to rage. He therefore deferred consideration of re-opening schools in Salt Lake City until the effects of the celebrations on the epidemic could be studied.

School officials were eager to reopen their classrooms. On November 20, Superintendent Ernest Smith announced that, in order to fit the necessary work into the remainder of the school year, all non-essential portions of the curriculum would have to be removed.