‘Nothing will be final.’ Fayette superintendent asks for patience on reopening schools

“I want everyone to understand,” Fayette Superintendent Manny Caulk said Wednesday about reopening Lexington public schools, “that no matter what decision is made next week nothing will be final.”

Caulk said district staff will present a plan to reopen sometime late next week at a school board meeting, but it will be subject to change.

“The status of COVID-19 changes every day, with each test taken, diagnosis made, or scientific breakthrough announced, and our response must be nimble enough to change quickly to keep our students, employees and families safe,” Caulk said.

Caulk said a task force of students, families, teachers, health officials, principals and district leaders has been working on a reopening plan for Fayette County Public Schools since April. The group has examined the pros and cons of in-person instruction, distance or virtual learning, and a blend of both approaches, he said.

On Monday, three out of five Fayette school board members said they doubted schools could reopen safely to in-person learning. On Thursday, Jefferson County Superintendent Marty Pollio said that the 2020-21 school year in that district would begin Aug. 25 with online nontraditional instruction. That decision will be reevaluated after six weeks, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.

“Our district recognizes the important role that schools play in the daily life of our community and we fully appreciate that everyone is looking to us to make an announcement about the 2020-2021 school year, “ Caulk said. “However as Dr. Anthony Fauci noted on March 25, 2020, ‘we don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline,’” Caulk said, making reference to the well known epidemiologist.

Caulk said flexibility will be critical.

“Nothing is more important to me than the lives of our students, employees and families, and safety will direct this decision,” Caulk said. “Regardless of the instructional model we select, that plan is subject to change as cases rise or decline not only in Fayette County, but across Kentucky, the nation and the world.”

Caulk asked for continued patience and support as the district moved “forward with a plan that best serves the individual needs of our students, accommodates the individual concerns of our employees, responds to the individual circumstances of our families, and supports the collective success of our community.”

Fayette school board chairwoman Stephanie Spires, who has cast doubt on whether schools can reopen safely, said every community and school district has to work with their local health officials to determine what is best for their community.

“We all want these kids in school and I am confident that Fayette County will produce a plan by the end of July so that families can know what the plan will be,” Spires said. “And once our community sees a decrease in cases and has more access to rapid testing we can put the plan in play. In the meantime we need the community’s support. We need people wearing masks and following safety precautions now so that we can return to school this fall.”

Spires said she had heard from state legislators, county judge executives, and from many other school boards thanking her for saying that Fayette County needs more rapid testing and for recognizing that “we cannot send our children into the classroom in counties where cases are rapidly increasing.”

“In Fayette County we are shattering records this week in number of new cases, number of children diagnosed, and number of deaths. These are not the records we need to be breaking,” Spires said.

Sebastian Kitchen, a spokesman for Gov. Andy Beshear, said this week that school districts face unique challenges.

“It is the Governor’s hope that if the vast majority of Kentuckians wear facial coverings for the next 30 days that the state will be in a much better position. Any action to lessen or invalidate that mandate threatens any chance of getting our kids back to in-class instruction,” he said.

This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 12:02 PM.