In lieu of Gov. Andy Beshear making another recommendation about when schools should open for in-person instruction, state health officials have developed a matrix to guide districts’ decisions.

Kentucky Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack explained the tool, along with a requirement for schools to report positive cases and quarantines, in a Sept. 17 online town hall.

“We want people to be informed,” he said. “We want people to have tools to make decisions to support local control.”

When the state’s positivity rate is under 6 percent, districts should use the COVID-19 decision-making metric tool to guide their decisions, Stack said. The tool uses the state’s COVID-19 incidence rate map and a four-color chart. For example, if a county is green on the incidence rate map, in person classes can be held. If a county is red, indicating substantial community transmission of the virus, districts are advised to move to online instruction.

Officials said counties in the red should continue virtual instruction until the county level has decreased to yellow.

During the town hall, Education Commissioner Jason Glass noted that the system is designed to bring stability to opening and closing schools to in-person instruction. However, the tool is a recommendation, not a mandate, he said.

“I would urge our school leaders and school board leaders to consult with their local public health department in that conversation,” he said. “You have to think about, what is the broader conversation about the conditions in the community and then react to that.”

Starting on Sept. 28, all schools will be required to file a daily report of the number of students and staff who have tested positive and the number of both that are in quarantine. The state will then publish the numbers on a dashboard on the state’s COVID-19 website.

KSBA, in partnership with the National School Boards Association and the KSBA Educational Foundation, has donated 80,000 cloth masks to Kentucky public school students. The masks will go directly to the state’s Family Resource and Youth Services Centers (FRYSC), a division of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, ensuring distribution to some of Kentucky’s most vulnerable families. Read the full announcement.

“Our goal, from day one, has been to distribute these masks to some of our Commonwealth’s most underserved communities,” said KSBA Executive Director Kerri Schelling. “We cannot think of better partners to help us do that than the dedicated women and men of Kentucky’s Family Resource and Youth Services Centers.”

While the pandemic has limited in-person programming on school grounds, it has only increased the need for many of the critical services provided to families by FRYSCs, according to state FRYSC Director Melissa Goins.

“It is well documented that this is a time of increased stress and anxiety for many of our families. While we can’t take away viruses, grief, racial trauma, and the other things impacting our students, we can connect with students via home visits and calls, coordinate safe opportunities for students to engage in pro-social activities, and do our level best to get them what they need to engage in virtual learning,” Goins said. “We can do things to mitigate the impact of the 2020 experience. It is our responsibility.”

Kentucky’s network of 857 FRYSCs, operating in 1,200 schools statewide, makes resources available to more than 600,000 students and their families. For more information on FRYSCs, visit the Division of Family Resource and Youth Services Centers website.

Read more:

WHAS-11: Kentucky School Boards to donate 80,000 masks to public schools across the state

SpectrumNews1: Kentucky School Boards Association Helps Keep Kids Covered

The News Journal: Kentucky School Boards Association provides cloth masks to school family resource centers

At least 53 of Kentucky’s 171 school districts have already begun holding in-person classes. At least 24 are using a hybrid model with students attending on alternating days, seven are having students in classes four days a week and 22 are having five-day-a-week classes.

On Sept. 28, more than 52 districts will begin in-person instruction with some districts holding classes five days a week and some using a hybrid model. Other districts plan to start later this fall.

Before most districts return to in-person classes, Deputy Public Health Commissioner Dr. Connie White on Tuesday’s Superintendents’ Webcast tried to clear up misinformation about the state’s #HealthyatSchool guidance. White noted that a bullet point on page 7 that states if districts can’t get chairs 6-feet apart they should move the desks as far apart as possible should not be used as a license to avoid social distancing.

“The intent was if you could get them 5 feet 8 inches apart, that was OK,” she said. “It does not mean that if you can’t get them 6-feet apart you can cram as many people in that room as possible. That is somebody looking for a loophole and not really thinking about the health of the staff and of their students.”

When asked what districts should do if they can’t get students 6-feet apart in classrooms, Education Commissioner Jason Glass said districts will have to consider hybrid models to reduce the numbers of students.

“That’s really the only way to reduce the number of students present so that you can achieve the 6 foot social distancing and fit a smaller number of students in the rooms that you have,” Glass said.

He also noted that KDE will be reaching out to districts that have already begun in-person classes to find out what is working “to make sure we are spreading best practices around the state.”

KSBA'S Eric Kennedy provides two very important reminders on voter registration and the 2020 Census. Visit 2020census.gov and govoteky.com to fulfill your civic duties!

The September issue of the Kentucky School Advocate is in the mail, but you don't have to wait for delivery to read the articles. Visit our website to access all the content in the September issue, including a look at the decision facing school boards on whether to return to the classroom or continue with distance learning.

Also in the September Advocate:

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has submitted a proposal to the state outlining the service that would be impacted by a possible 8 percent budget cut.

The plan is the result of a request from State Budget Director John Hicks for all state agencies to submit plans for an 8 percent reduction in the current fiscal year, which started July 1. The state predicts up to a $242 million loss in revenue.

“They are trying to get ahead of the game a little bit and plan for this effort,” said Robin Kinney, KDE associate commissioner, during Tuesday’s Superintendents’ Webcast.

The Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) funds – the main source of funding for K-12 education in the state – are exempted from the reduction, she said.

The request is a response to expected revenue declines resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. KDE officials plan to meet with the state budget director to explain the impact and will share more information as it becomes available, Kinney said.

For the 10th consecutive year, the Kentucky School Boards Association will award scholarships to members of the Class of 2021.

Thanks to the generous support of statewide fundraising efforts, this year the KSBA Board of Directors will award four $2,500 First Degree Scholarships to eligible Kentucky high school seniors to attend any two- or four-year accredited college or university, in state or out. Two scholarships each will be awarded to male and female students who would be the first members of their immediate families to receive a degree from an institution of higher education. These nonrenewable scholarships will be paid directly to the institution of higher education upon the recipients’ official admission acceptances.

The deadline for districts to nominate one male and/or one female student for the First Degree Scholarship is Oct. 26. Visit our website for more information, including eligibility requirements and the application.

To date, KSBA has hosted five fall virtual regional meetings, including two regional chairperson elections. Seven meetings (and four regional chairperson elections) remain.

This year’s regional meeting training topic is entitled “Coronavirus Current Events: Top considerations for school boards.” Knowledgeable KSBA staff explore the legislative, legal and policy implications of pandemic response. Visit KSBA’s regional meeting page for more information on KSBA’s 11 remaining virtual meeting dates.

Find your district's assigned region. If you had/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.

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet has released an application for local school districts to receive reimbursements of up to 50 percent of the cost to replace up to five school buses.

As part of the 2016 Volkswagen Settlement, the Kentucky General Assembly authorized $8,521,700 in such reimbursements to be awarded to school districts. Buses to be replaced are those in daily operation with a chassis year of 2001 or earlier.

View application instructions for VW Settlement school bus funding. The deadline for funding applications is Oct. 9.

Over the next several months, KSBA will be spotlighting our Tier 1 and Tier 2 Affiliate Members in Q&A videos. The videos will provide information on the services the companies provide to school districts and why they choose to support public education.

This week's spotlight, is CMTA Energy Solutions. Tim Hockensmith, Client Relations for CMTA Energy Solutions, joined KSBA's Matt McCarty for a Zoom conversation.

Check out all of our Affiliate members on our website.

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.

The Times Leader: KSBA assists with Caldwell Co. superintendent search

The Ashland Daily Independent: Boyd band gets virtual concert date

This edition of KSBA Aware is made possible in part