Gov. Andy Beshear recommended that Kentucky schools not return to in-person instruction until Sept. 28, citing the high rate of the coronavirus across the state.

However, as of Aug. 27, at least 30 of Kentucky’s 171 public school districts had decided to hold in-person classes.

Green County Schools began in-person on Aug. 17, however after the first week the district announced it would move to virtual instruction as cases in the community continued to rise. Before opening, the district had created an active case index and told families that it planned to move to virtual instruction if the index hit the “red phase.”

On Wednesday, the boards of Laurel County and Johnson County voted to return to in-person classes before Sept. 28.

This week, 14 school districts welcomed students back. Fourteen more districts are scheduled to return to classes in early and mid-September.

The Kentucky Board of Education will hold a meeting Friday to discuss fall sports in the state. The meeting comes after the KHSAA Board of Control voted 16-2 to allow fall sports practices to begin Aug. 24 and competition to begin Sept. 7.

On Monday, Gov. Andy Beshear said he would not overturn KHSAA even though he disagreed with the decision.

“It’s going to be incumbent on our superintendents, on coaches on the different groups to make the wisest decisions that they can,” Beshear said, noting that he could still shut down sports if protocols are not followed.

The KBE designates the KHSAA to regulate interscholastic sports in the state and has regulatory oversight of the association. At the meeting KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett will explain KHSAA's draft guidance. There will also be presentations from Kentucky school superintendents and Kentucky Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack.

The agenda includes a vote on whether to instruct KDE to send a letter to the KHSAA “urging additional consideration of alternative options for high contact fall sports.”

Interim Commissioner Kevin Brown said the KBE will not be considering canceling fall sports.

The meeting, scheduled to begin at noon, will be streamed live. You can also follow along on Twitter at @KSBAnews.

Legislators heard superintendents and board members' concerns about local control of school reopening during the Aug. 18 Interim Joint Education Committee meeting.

The meeting came in the wake of Gov. Andy Beshear’s recommendation that schools delay in-person instruction until Sept. 28.

KSBA’s Director of Advocacy Eric Kennedy noted that Kentucky’s 171 school districts are all different.

“There is so much diversity across the communities of Kentucky, that there really should not be a one-size-fits-all approach to this issue for providing education and reopening schools,” he said.

Kennedy also expressed board members’ dismay at how reopening schools has been politicized.

“I think our folks, our local school board members, are frustrated and shocked about some of the things said about schools, about them,” he said.

In addition to Kennedy, Jim Flynn, executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents, and Spencer County Superintendent Chuck Adams also expressed their support for local decision making.

Adams noted that his district of 3,000 students should not be treated the same as Jefferson County which has nearly 100,000 students.

“There’s got to be the ability to make choices at the local level that best fits the individuals that we serve,” he said.

As students in 14 Kentucky school districts headed back to in-person instruction this week, Kentucky health officials unveiled a plan to keep the public informed about coronavirus cases tied to schools.

Gov. Andy Beshear explained the spreadsheet during his Monday news conference, saying the data will be updated daily but noted it is a couple days behind in order to be verified by state health officials.

“As more schools go back and if they go back too early, I believe this is going be populated very quickly,” he said. “We are going to be tracking this because parents deserve to know.”

During KDE’s Superintendent Webcast on Tuesday, Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack explained that a second dashboard of cases will be self-reported by schools.

Schools will answer a four question survey each day – the number of positive students, positive staff, quarantined students and quarantined staff, Stack said.

“We are trying to be transparent with the community,” he said.

Stack also noted that public health officials are working with KDE officials to create a metric that will help districts decide when to open or close schools due to the level of the virus in their community.

“We have heard that there is a strong desire for that,” Stack said. The plan is to have the metric ready before Sept. 28, the governor’s recommended date for in-person instruction.

KSBA’s parent association, the National School Boards Association (NSBA), continues to diligently monitor the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on districts, schools and students across the country. NSBA offers a wide variety of coronavirus resources, including downloadable guidance documents, webinars, podcasts and regular updates. Visit NSBA’s coronavirus resource page.

Download NSBA’s “Reopening Schools in the New Normal” (Aug. 2020)

Johns Hopkins University eSchool+ Initiative Analysis of School Reopening Plans allows you to compare current reopening plans of other states and territories.

Kentucky’s online absentee ballot request form is now open following the approval of a bipartisan 2020 general election plan agreed to by Secretary of State Michael Adams and Gov. Andy Beshear. Emergency regulations put forth by Adams, and later approved by the Kentucky State Board of Elections, allow those concerned with the spread of coronavirus to request an absentee ballot. There are also provisions for individuals who are finding it difficult to obtain a photo identification because of the pandemic.

Additionally, voters will have ample opportunity to vote early in person in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 3 election. This year’s general election season was prefaced by a historically high primary voter turnout, thanks in large part to expanded absentee voting.

Visit GoVoteKy.com to access the state’s voter information portal. Resources include absentee ballot requests, polling locations, sample ballots and important deadlines.

KSBA will offer its next Learn and Earn webinar on Sept. 9 at noon (ET). Perry County Finance Officer and KSBA training cadre member Jody Maggard will present “Making Sense of Dollars: Presenting Financial Information to Non-Financial Audiences.”

If you think school finance is a tough topic to tackle, consider how mind-boggling it is for the people who pay the taxes that fund your programs. This class – developed with help from members of the Kentucky Association of School Business Officials – offers ideas and calendar opportunities to spell out school budgets and taxes to the community. Charter school authorizers also learn about the law’s grant of financial powers to charter schools.

For questions contact Laura Cole, KSBA director of Board Team Development, via email or at 800-372-2962.

KSBA offers its Learn and Earn webinar series the second Wednesday of each month for an hour of meaningful board member training. All sessions will run from noon – 1 p.m. (ET). Registration is required, and space is limited to 100 viewers each session. Learn more.

More detailed regional meeting information, including specific meeting times and registration instructions, will be distributed by your region's host district in the weeks prior to each meeting. If you do not receive the information at least two weeks prior to your region’s scheduled meeting, please contact KSBA. For questions, please contact Laura Cole at 800-372-2962 or Laura.Cole@ksba.org.

Check KSBA’s Regional Meeting page for additional information and updates, including the dates for each regional meeting.

Note: If you have a conflict on the date of your assigned region’s meeting, you may request to attend another region’s meeting by contacting the host region directly.

This fall, six regional chairperson seats on KSBA’s board of directors will be up for election. Regional chairs are in a unique position to serve as liaisons for our fall regional meetings while also contributing as members of the association’s board of directors. KSBA will distribute nomination information to board members and superintendents within regions where elections are to be held. Election forms, instructions and submission deadlines can also be downloaded from the Regional Meeting page of KSBA’s website.

The six regional chair positions up for election this fall are Northern Kentucky, Middle Cumberland, Second, Eastern Kentucky South, Fourth and Upper Cumberland. See calendar below for links to applications for each region's election.

If you have questions about these elections, or about regional chairperson service, please contact KSBA Executive Director Kerri Schelling at 859-492-1497 or via email.

The First Region chairperson position on the KSBA Board of Directors became vacant on Aug. 20. According to the association’s bylaws, KSBA's president shall appoint a qualified board member to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term (which expires Dec. 31, 2022). KSBA is seeking interested candidates to fill the unexpired term.

Regional chairpersons act as liaisons for KSBA’s fall regional meetings while also serving as members of the KSBA Board of Directors. An application is available for any school board member* of a First Region district who wishes to place his or her name in consideration. If interested, please complete the nomination form in its entirety and return it to the KSBA office no later than Sept. 18.

Questions? Contact KSBA Executive Director Kerri Schelling.

A summer surge of coronavirus cases prompted Gov. Andy Beshear to recommend districts not hold in-person classes until late September. The request came just a week before some districts were set to open their doors, but despite the delay, public health officials say all the work to meet the guidelines for in-person instruction will not go to waste. Read about the efforts of districts in the August edition of the Kentucky School Advocate.

KSBA is often called on by media outlets to discuss important school-related issues. Here is a story to which your association contributed in recent weeks.

KSBA is accepting nominations for its PEAK Award. The deadline is Sept. 22 and more information is available on our website.

The entry guidelines and links to stories on some of the recent winners, are available on our website. If you have questions, please email or call Matt McCarty at 800-372-2962 ext. 1209.

This edition of KSBA Aware is made possible in part