Coronavirus concerns are closing this Northern Ky. school district for nearly a month

Boone County Schools in northern Kentucky will cancel classes for nearly a month beginning Monday, March 16, in reaction to the coronavirus outbreak, Superintendent Randy Poe said Wednesday night.

Students will learn from home through the state’s non traditional instruction program, Poe said in a post on the school district’s Facebook page.

Earlier in the day, Gov. Andy Beshear ordered schools to develop plans that would allow them to close on short notice. No coronavirus cases had been reported in Boone County by 9 p.m. Wednesday.

An article on the Kentucky Department of Education website said that in Beshear’s phone call with superintendents on Wednesday, he said he could ask as early as Monday for districts to cancel classes.

“At this point, we are asking all of our schools to be prepared on 72 hours notice, which means we could ask as early as Monday, for suspension of classes and school,” Beshear said. “Those that have the capability to provide instruction remotely, be prepared to do that.“

“Ultimately, we believe this will be up to each superintendent (to decide whether to close) when we make that call,” he said. “It’s just this is moving really fast. Everything that we’re learning is changing almost daily and we need to be able to have the speed that, if we reach this point, to do it.”

Robert Stafford, Owen County Schools Superintendent, said in a statement that classes were canceled Thursday in his district because a staff member who does not live in the county had possibly been exposed to COVID-19 and was self-quarantined at home for 14 days. Owen County had no positive tests as of Thursday morning, Stafford said. Stafford said he made the decision after consulting with the local health department.

Another district that canceled classes this week was Harrison County, where 5 of the state’s 8 coronavirus cases have been reported. Two cases have been reported in Fayette County and one in Jefferson.

After the phone call with Beshear, Owensboro Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Constant announced that he was canceling all after-school activities, including a fine arts festival, through Friday. The move is intended to protect people in the community who would be vulnerable to the virus if they were in large crowds, Constant said.

Poe said starting Monday, March 16, up to Monday, April 20, instruction in Boone County will be delivered for all students during the day while at home. However, if Kentucky’s State of Emergency is lifted before April 20, the district could resume classes.

“We are taking these measures after Governor Beshear declared a State of Emergency in Kentucky and in accordance with the guidelines put out by the Northern Kentucky Health Department,” Poe said.

Non-Traditional Instruction and event cancellations are being implemented out of an abundance of caution and to help stem the tide of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Poe said.

Fayette County school officials said Wednesday the district had no immediate plans to close because the local health department said there was no public health risk to schools.

This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 9:49 PM.