Beshear says KY schools could start in July or after Labor Day, asks for flexibility
Gov. Andy Beshear is asking that Kentucky schools prepare for multiple possibilities for beginning the next school year, ranging from late July to after Labor Day in September.
Kentucky Department of Education officials in a virtual meeting Tuesday asked superintendents to be flexible as they consider plans for the start of the next school year during the COVID-19 outbreak. In-person classes have been canceled since mid-March and won’t resume this school year.
Interim Kentucky Education Commissioner Kevin Brown said Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, an educator, are asking districts to consider three possibilities for when the next school year might start.
One is an early start, perhaps as early as late July; another is a traditional start in early to mid-August; and a late start, perhaps after Labor Day, is possible, a news release said.
Brown said an early start could let districts begin the year with in-person instruction if a decline in the number of cases of COVID-19 allows it, with the possibility of a suspension of in-person classes if there is a spike in cases.
“Brown told the superintendents they might consider asking their local boards of education to approve multiple calendars to allow for the different scenarios,” a news release said, “and districts should be prepared to adapt to changing circumstances near or after the beginning of the school year.”
“We don’t know that any of this will occur, but we need in a time of a global pandemic to be prepared,” Brown said.
Brown also said that the resumption of in-person classes might come with changes that could include the use of social distancing both in school buildings and on buses.
Decisions will ultimately be made by local school districts, Brown said.
Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Fayette Superintendent Manny Caulk said last week that the district will be working on a plan for fall, but did not provide specifics.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 10:17 AM.