Beshear asks Kentucky schools not to reopen to in- person learning until Sept. 28

Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday asked that all Kentucky schools postpone in-person learning until Sept. 28, calling it a “tough but a necessary recommendation.”

Schools shut down to in-person learning in March. At least 30 districts in the state have already announced that they would start virtually only, including Fayette. Other districts were planning to return in mid-to-late August or around Sept. 8.

In Green County, where schools were expected to start Aug. 17, officials did not immediately comment. But a response on the district website said Green County Schools ”will update our community as soon as possible and families could continue to register for in-person or virtual classes.”

On Friday, the Kentucky Education Association asked Beshear not to start in-person school until COVID-19 cases dropped. Beshear said the state has had 3,000 cases in three weeks and a 6 percent positivity rate.

Beshear said the recommendation that he made as a governor he had to live with as a dad of Kentucky students.

“At my very core, I want us to get back to in-person instruction,” Beshear said,

But he said he is not willing to ask teachers and staff to go back to school buildings when it is not safe.

“We don’t have control of this virus,” he said.

Beshear said it would defy logic to start cases when infections were at their peak. Other states that rushed to reopen schools are seeing an increase in the infection rates in kids, he said. Kentucky is also seeing an increase among children, he said.

He said families have continued to go on vacation through the month of August to places where the virus is “still hot.”

Beshear said the state wanted to work with superintendents to help kids who are behind academically. And he said he wanted to work with districts to make sure that all students had access to the internet so they could participate in virtual learning.

He said if superintendents went back to in-person learning despite his recommendation, the responsibility rested with them.

Brigitte Blom Ramsey, president and CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, said that group supported the decision. The Prichard Committee urged Beshear to appoint an emergency working group to close the digital divide. The working group should include legislators and state-based groups to design an emergency plan to ensure affordability and access the adequate broadband infrastructure.

Beshear said the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Board of Control was expected to meet Tuesday to discuss decisions about public school sports.

This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 4:14 PM.