Some Ky. public, private schools defy governor on reopening. Could state take more action?

Plans for reopening schools in Kentucky amid the coronavirus pandemic continued to upend the state Wednesday as some public and private schools said they would not follow Gov. Andy Beshear’s recommendation to postpone in-person learning until Sept. 28.

Catholic schools in Kentucky decided Wednesday not to follow Beshear’s request to delay in-person learning until late September. They will start face-to-face instruction next week amid statewide angst over how to reopen.

The Williamstown Independent School board voted Tuesday night to open school buildings as planned despite Beshear’s request.

Beshear said Wednesday he disagreed with schools that have decided to open as Kentucky reported a single-day record for positive tests and hopes they will reconsider.

During his Wednesday news conference, Beshear said he didn’t expect to issue an executive order shutting a school or district down, but he would in the case of a severe proven threat, a widespread outbreak, in which schools didn’t act appropriately.

“I don’t foresee that but I’m not going to tell the people of Kentucky that if there is something horrendously dangerous and tons of people are getting COVID I’m not going to step in and do something about it, “Beshear said.

While Beshear said he wanted kids back in school, he recommended Monday that schools delay in-person openings until Sept. 28 as a result of a surge in coronavirus cases, especially among children. Several public and private schools are following his direction. But some private, religious and public school administrators say they will move forward with face-to face instruction.

“The idea that we would take this step at a time when we are at our peak, is simply not a smart move to make,” Beshear said.

“I don’t believe that we gamble or experiment with our kids,” he said.

Interim Kentucky Education Commissioner Kevin Brown said Tuesday before the Williamstown vote that any district that made a decision to “defy” the governor’s recommendation faced ramifications, including state shutdown.

The Williamstown district’s 8:32 p.m. tweet said, “Tonight our board made a courageous vote to stick with our reopening plan.”

“With careful consideration of the governor’s recommendation and the feedback received from our local community they have chosen to proceed with our ‘parent choice model’ of choosing between in-person instruction and the virtual academy to begin Aug. 26. We appreciate the support of our community, and the safety and well being of our students is always a top priority,” the post said.

In a news release Wednesday, Williamstown Superintendent Misty Middleton said the 3-2 board vote is evidence that the decision was difficult and reiterated that it represented the community’s viewpoint.

“School boards are apolitical by statute and in no way should this decision be construed as anything other,” Middleton said.

Kevin Brown said at a virtual meeting earlier Tuesday that he, Kentucky Board of Education chairwoman Lu Young and others would meet with the district’s school board officials and their attorney in an attempt to reach a “different outcome.” He said such a meeting would not be adversarial.

Kevin Brown said Tuesday that Beshear could issue an executive order requiring school closure, public health officials could shut down the schools, or the Kentucky Board of Education could pass an emergency order requiring the district to close.

He noted that COVID-19 cases were widespread and at a peak, which was why Beshear made the recommendation on Monday. He said Wednesday night he has been in touch with several superintendents to reiterate the reasons why Gov. Beshear made the recommendation Monday to delay the start of in-person classes.

“While I value and honor decisions about the 2020-2021 school year being feasible, practical and tailored to the needs of each community, we also must balance this with the lessons we are learning from other states that tried to open too soon and now are faced with having to close,” Kevin Brown said Wednesday night. “These kinds of actions create more complications by having to start and stop in-person instruction. In the end, we all want what’s best for our children despite how difficult this might be.”

Private and parochial schools are not under the purview of the Kentucky Department of Education, he said.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began in March, all of Kentucky’s 171 school districts had followed Beshear’s recommendations regarding school closings, Brown said.

Warren County Public Schools Superintendent Rob Clayton indicated in a letter to families Tuesday that he had concerns about Beshear’s recommendation and had reached out to Kevin Brown “to work toward a plausible path forward.”

He said Beshear pushing the start date to late September was a surprise.

“The negative impact on our most vulnerable students along with the hardships it will create for our working families and the industries they serve are insurmountable,” Clayton said in the letter.

He said the start date would remain Aug. 24 whether the district decided to start all virtual through distance learning or have in-person and virtual instruction.

Beshear said Warren County had a high number of cases.

At least two Christian schools in Kentucky — in Somerset and Danville — decided to open to in-person learning this week, despite Beshear’s recommendation.

Also on Wednesday, members of the Prichard Committee Student Voice Team released results from their statewide’ Coping with COVID Student Survey’ that showed that Kentucky middle and high school students experienced significant behavioral and emotional changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the interruption in a traditional learning environment.

Superintendents under pressure

With Kentucky’s positive test rate above five percent and more children testing positive for the virus, Brown told superintendents Tuesday the state doesn’t want to have the same experience as the Cherokee County School District in Georgia., a news release said. Cherokee County reopened schools on Aug. 3, only to shut down again when more than 250 students and staff had to quarantine after several positive COVID-19 tests in the first week of classes.

Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman said that as a former educator, she knows starting classes with non-traditional instruction is difficult. But she said Kentucky’s rate of children testing positive for COVID-19 spiked 40 percent in July and schools should be cautious.

Some superintendents under pressure from their communities and school boards are asking for a stronger directive than Beshear’s recommendation, state education officials said.

Kevin Brown said schools that open would be risking an outbreak, which would force them to close anyway and potentially draw national attention. The goal is to reduce the number of people in school buildings and contact between people, Kevin Brown said. That means schools should send home anyone who is able to work remotely, including teachers, he said.

As for whether athletics can be held while classes are all virtual, Kevin Brown said the Kentucky High School Athletic Association is working on multiple scenarios and its board will meet Aug. 20 to discuss the issue.

Catholic schools plan in-person return

Tom Brown, Superintendent of Schools for the Catholic Diocese of Lexington, told the Herald-Leader Wednesday that the four bishops of all the dioceses in Kentucky signed a letter to Beshear saying that Catholic schools will open in-person as planned starting Aug. 17.

The 13 schools in the Catholic Diocese of Lexington will open to in-person learning between Aug. 17 and Aug. 19, Tom Brown said.

“We were obviously reacting to what the vast, vast majority of our parents desire. We had put a tremendous amount of work into our plans,” Tom Brown said.

In addition to parents wanting children at school, Tom Brown told Catholic school administrators in a letter Wednesday that other factors were concern for the welfare of students and their spiritual, social, emotional, and academic progress, and conversations with county public health departments.

Tom Brown said in the letter that Catholic school officials will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments, either system-wide or at individual schools, as needed.

In addition, during the week of September 6, all four Dioceses of the Commonwealth will conduct an evaluation of the experience to date and will make any needed changes.

Parents are being asked to abide by rules for mask wearing, hygiene, social distancing, health checks, and staying home if sick.

A Wednesday letter to families from Sandra R. Young, President of Lexington Catholic High School, and Mathew George, the school principal said, “we ask that you refrain from posting pictures of students not following protocols (face covering and social distancing) on social media.”

“Lexington Catholic’s staff has worked around the clock on the protocols and procedures for our school to open safely. We cannot eliminate the risk in its entirety, but we have put in place risk reduction protocols. We will continuously evaluate our processes and be diligent in ensuring that everyone adheres to our safety guidelines,” the letter said.

Under no circumstance will anyone be permitted on Lexington Catholic High School’s campus without face coverings, social distancing, temperature checks and washing hands, according to the letter. Families at Lexington Catholic High who want to keep their children at home have a virtual learning option.

This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 7:21 AM.