PARIS, Ky. (LEX 18) — COVID-19 is forcing schools to reexamine how their day-to-day operations work.
In May, the Kentucky Department of Education released initial re-opening guidelines, which laid out re-opening models and presented dozens of questions for school officials to consider as they developed their plans. You can read the full document here.
Bourbon County Schools Superintendent Amy Baker said the document has been helpful in navigating the uncharted territory, but the past weeks have still involved a lot of problem-solving.
“It’s like you solve one thing and another three things we hadn’t considered come up,” Baker said. “We want to make sure that the decisions that we make are good decisions that will keep our students and staff healthy.”
Bourbon County Schools formed a re-opening committee made up of nine sub-committees with individual focus areas. Baker said they are also frequently asking parents and students for feedback through the use of surveys.
Currently, the committees are leaning towards a late opening, which would make the first day of school Aug. 24, according to Baker.
“We want that late date to kind of just give us some more time for planning as well as hopefully the virus number of cases will decrease and things will be safer for our children.”
The late opening would involve returning to school normally, with minor changes for students and teachers.
Alternatively, the school district could implement a hybrid learning model.
“That hybrid model would kind of look like the smaller class sizes and some kids would be in session on certain days while other kids are virtual on certain days doing Google classroom and project-based learning. Things of that nature,” said Kerrie McIntyre, Director of Special Education.
There is no deadline for approving re-opening plans, according to Baker. However, the Bourbon Board of Education will need to vote and approve any final plans before the start of the 2020-2021 school year.
