Facing a rise in new coronavirus cases, some Kentucky schools across the state are grappling with the unintended consequences of new legislative limits on at-home instruction, leaving some students out of school for up to two weeks.
A law passed by Kentucky’s GOP-dominated General Assembly this year, returned schools to their usual limitations on non-traditional instruction or “NTI” days. Now, once schools go past their limit of 10 NTI days, they must make up any others by adding more instructional days to the end of the school year.
The bill received some Democratic support in both chambers, and Gov. Andy Beshear signed it into law.
Now, months later, with Kentucky reporting an average of more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases a day in the last week, several school districts have had to cancel school altogether to keep up with staffing shortages and large student quarantines.
Lee County School District, for instance, has closed school for all instruction, virtual and in-person, until Aug. 27, Wasson confirmed in an interview Thursday. Students who had previously opted for virtual learning at the beginning of the school year, will continue, but all other students will instead use at-home learning packets until Sept. 7. The school year began in Lee County on Aug. 10.
A small, rural school district already contending with teaching shortages, schools there had previously closed for three days last week due to coronavirus cases in both students and teachers. In one instance, a quarantine of nine staff members prevented the elementary school from resuming fifth grade classes after a brief shut down.
“We hope that the separation will help us slow the spread of the virus and determine who might be positive from the recent quarantines,” Superintendent Sarah Wasson said in a letter to families Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, Greenup County closed schools Wednesday for the rest of the week, without virtual instruction. The days off will be added to the school calendar, Superintendent Traysea Morsey said in a letter to parents.
“The number of students and staff who are positive and/or quarantined has greatly impacted our ability to operate buses, kitchens, and maintain classroom staffing,” she said. “The next two days will be used for our staff to regroup, make long-term plans and thoroughly clean our facilities.”
Magoffin, Leslie, Knott, Jenkins, and Fairview are among other school districts that have also shut down for multiple days due to COVID-19 since the beginning of the school year.
The Associated Press
