Ky. Senate leaders cite ‘frustration’ over lack of school COVID-19 reopening directions

Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers and other Senate leaders told Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Brown in a letter to speed up giving school superintendents directions on how to reopen schools amid a coronavirus outbreak.

“...There is a great deal of frustration among local school district leaders regarding the failure of KDE and the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet to set forth tangible standards and directives for beginning school in the fall,” said the June 18 letter signed by Stivers, Senate President Pro Tem David Givens and Senate Education Committee Chairman Max Wise.

Kentucky schools shut down to in-person learning in March and switched to at home learning called non-traditional instruction.

Superintendents are trying to figure out whether and how to reopen schools in the fall, but they haven’t received firm instructions from the Kentucky Department of Education. The department is expected to release general guidance, and each district will decide whether to require masks, temperature taking, having kids attend in person classes on alternate days or other measures.

Department spokeswoman Toni Konz Tatman said Friday night that in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Kentucky Department of Education has been committed to providing guidance and solutions that focus on educating and feeding children and providing support to districts.

The Senate leaders said they understood that the department faced an “unprecedented” challenge in helping districts reopen schools, but they asked Brown to “accelerate” the steps officials have taken to offer direction.

The Republican lawmakers encouraged Brown to immediately promote the reopening of Kentucky schools, request school district reopening plans and review those plans.

They offered one unnamed district’s draft plan that made recommendations on reopening and precautions based on the number of COVID-19 cases in the school’s county. Districts have been told to prepare for a typical opening in August or a later one after Labor Day, to prepare for intermittent closures, and to prepare for a hybrid model that blends in-person and at-home learning.

“Since May 15, we have been releasing weekly guidance documents to all of our superintendents and districts in regards to reopening schools for the 2020-21 year,” said Tatman.

“We have also hosted weekly, two-hour public Superintedent Webcasts to discuss any guidance issued and answer any questions they might have,” she said. “We created a ‘KDE Reopening Guidance’ tab on our COVID-19 website where they can find all of the information, as well as the webcasts.”

Tatman said the department has been focused on providing guidance documents so that they are aligned with recommendations of local, state and national health officials.

School leaders have been asked to plan for all contingencies and remain flexible, she said: “It is essential that districts tailor reopening plans based upon community feedback while also adhering to recommended public health guidance.”

“Our state guidance was designed to inform and facilitate local planning and control, which are the hallmarks of education governance in Kentucky,” Tatman said. “We will continue to provide support to all of our districts during this unprecedented time.”

This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 10:01 PM.