With too few substitute teachers to cover COVID absences, another school district closes

On Saturday, Letcher County Schools became at least the thirteenth Kentucky district this academic year to stop in-person learning for various periods as COVID rages.

“While having in person classes is a priority, we are having a larger number of staff and students becoming ill or having to quarantine,” Letcher Superintendent Denise Yonts told families in a message.

‘Unfortunately, we do not have enough substitutes to cover and adequately supervise students. This time will allow students and staff to recover and return healthy,” Yonts said.

COVID cases in Kentucky and across the nation dropped significantly in early summer after the introduction of vaccines, and school leaders and families resolved to have in-person classes in 2021-22.

The highly contagious Delta variant and hesitancy to get vaccines has changed that for some. The Kentucky Department for Public Health reported 4,815 new COVID cases Friday, including 1,529 in people 18 and under.

Each day since classes began this month, hundreds of Kentucky K-12 students and numerous teachers and staff have been placed in COVID-19 isolation after testing positive or in quarantine after being exposed.

Letcher County Schools will close temporarily from Aug. 30 to Sept. 6.

Classes will resume Sept. 7.

Several districts have offered no learning during the shutdown, while others are launching into at-home learning next week.

Russellville Independent Schools and Magoffin County Schools are closing all next week without offering instruction. Magoffin County already had Sept. 3 scheduled as a day off, officials said in statement. The district will add four makeup days to the end of the school year.

In addition, Casey County Schools and Carter County Schools officials announced Friday that those districts are moving to at-home learning or non-traditional learning next week, with plans to return to in-person instruction Sept. 7. Franklin County Schools made a similar NTI announcement Thursday.

Owsley County Schools returned to in-person learning last Thursday after closing for several days. Knott County Schools are expected to reopen Monday to in-person learning after closing school buildings due to COVID-19.

The Lee, Leslie, Jenkins Independent, Carroll County and Greenup County school districts have also shut down to in-person learning for various periods since the school year started. The Greenup County superintendent has said that the death last week of an assistant football coach was attributed to complications from COVID-19.

“Our children and their education are suffering due to the dangerous and aggressive surge of delta within our communities. Please, step up for them. Get vaccinated and mask up indoors,” Gov. Andy Beshear posted on Twitter Saturday in reference to the school shutdowns as a result of coronavirus.

House Bill 208, a new state law passed by the General Assembly in 2021, only gives school districts 10 days of non-traditional instruction that they don’t have to make up. The law was aimed at preventing the extended remote learning that Kentucky experienced during the pandemic that began in March 2020. Last school year, districts had unlimited at-home learning.

Several Kentucky superintendents are asking lawmakers to give them more NTI days so kids won’t miss out on learning and days won’t have to be made up at the end of the year.

This story was originally published August 28, 2021 at 4:31 PM.