Plexiglass barriers allowed in KY classrooms to fight COVID, but not shower curtains

At the private Sayre School in Lexington, plexiglass barriers are being installed on student’s desks when they return to in-person learning.

Fayette County Public Schools staff are talking about using plexiglass dividers too when they return to face-to-face instruction. The latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state allows the use of plexiglass dividers in classrooms between students if approved by local health department environmental staff and the panels meet fire code requirements.

They must be securely fastened to prevent student injury and cleaned regularly.

“Our staff is constantly staying abreast of changes and taking appropriate steps to update our efforts as necessary,”district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said Wednesday “Based on the updated guidance from the Kentucky Department of Education, we are engaged in conversations regarding the use of plexiglass in our classrooms.”

Michelle Coker, Fayette district director of child nutrition, said at a recent school board meeting that plexiglass barriers would be used in food service areas.

Brad Daniel, who works in the district’s transportation department, told school board members that plexiglass would not be used on buses.

Several superintendents are asking Kentucky Department of Education officials whether plastic shower curtains could be used as barriers in classrooms, according to a state news release. Connie White, Department of Public Health Commissioner, said that although the Department of Public Health now allows securely mounted plexiglass shields for protection in addition to masks and six feet of distance, shower curtains were not a substitute.

Shower curtains could be flammable and, when burning, emit toxic fumes, according to White.

Medical supply companies might offer non-flammable curtains, but districts should check with fire marshals first, she said.

There have been several suggestions from the public for improvised room dividers, but fumes aren’t the only potential issue, said Kay Kennedy, education consultant in the Kentucky Department of Education’s Division of District Support. They also might compromise emergency evacuations, so schools should also ask fire marshals about that, she said.

Yahoo Finance reported in July that schools across the country, including in Texas and Virginia, had purchased miles of plexiglass amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

At Sayre, plexiglass barriers are also being installed in faculty, office and reception areas.

Sayre will implement enhanced cleaning and sanitation, has hired a school nurse, and is making daily temperature checks when in-person instruction begins. Cloth face coverings for grades 1-12 are required indoors at all times, regardless of social distancing beyond 6 feet, said head of school Stephen Manella.

Sayre is limiting parent and visitor access and reinventing large-scale events. The school also has a remote option available for families.

The school year is expected to start Aug. 20 at Sayre with a combination of half attendance per day on campus on alternating days and/or half days of instruction through at least the end of the month.

After that, Sayre hopes to transition to full in-person days. Fayette schools plan to start the school year Aug. 26 with at-home learning until at least late September.

In July as cases were surging, Beshear asked all schools to put off reopening to the third week of August. On Wednesday, Beshear said at this point he could not comfortably recommend in-person classes resume and that he might recommend another start date delay.

This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 12:36 PM.