‘You’ve got to test it out.’ See the details for Fayette’s limited return to classes

Beginning Oct. 19, from 2 to 4 p.m. , small groups of Lexington’s most vulnerable elementary students - those with low test scores, with special needs, with mental health concerns or who need help learning English - are expected to start back to in-person class.

It’s the first time since COVID-19 shutdown Kentucky schools in March that Fayette students could engage in face-to-face instruction. Superintendent Manny Caulk at a Monday school board meeting called it a “test” for when the district’s more than 42,000 other students return to a hybrid model of virtual and in-person learning.

There will be new health related rules at every turn and no more than 14 children -- all wearing face coverings -- in a classroom.

“You’ve got to test it out,” aid Caulk. “Starting with our most vulnerable students is the best way to go.”

Board chairwoman Stephanie Spires said the district is aiming for a wider scale return with the hybrid model the week of Nov. 2. Parents should know more by October 26 after results are tallied from a family survey of how many are sending kids back to in-person learning two days each week and how many want to keep them home.

Families on Monday night did not get the definitive answers about the hybrid return that many were calling for. That led school board member Tyler Murphy to say in a social media post after the meeting that he hopes to receive clear, specific, district-wide guidance for the hybrid model, and will “continue to push for that.”

The return to face-to-face instruction has been rocky across the state as some districts have returned to in-person learning then gone back to virtual amid a coronavirus surge and other districts have opened regardless of a state metric system that warns against it. Student and staff quarantines by the dozens and athletic game cancellations have been common. Some districts, including Fayette, haven’t announced a definite opening date.

Many Fayette parents are praising teachers’ efforts since the at-home learning began August 26, but others are turning to in-person learning at private schools or homeschooling in frustration. A social media group of families pushing for a speedier in-person return has been outspoken about a lack of information from the school district.

The most definitive information on the classroom return in Fayette County on Monday came from three elementary school principals who talked about how “targeted services” were expected to begin Oct. 19. Some practices will be universal in the district and in other cases schools will make their own decisions.

Jill Hill, principal at Cassidy Elementary School, said staff who will get health screenings will start to receive students at 1:45 pm using health guidelines to prevent COVID-19. The kindergarten students will be the largest group coming to Cassidy, but special education and students needing counseling will also be in two hour classes. Kindergarten students will meet on Monday and Tuesdays or Thursday and Fridays. Most parents will drive children but the few who will arrive by bus will likely have their temperature taken on the bus

Cassidy will have a thermal imaging camera to check student temperatures as they enter the building. Students will be isolated and sent home if their temperature is more than 100.4 . School board members said they want all school nurses and bus drivers to have the highly effective N-95 masks.

Buses will display a red card if any child has a temperature and a green card when no student does. Students will stay in their classrooms and teachers will come there. Cassidy may have up to 92 students for the two-hour classes.

The health precautions at William Wells Brown and Garden Springs will be much like Cassidy’s, including social distancing. Ebony Hutchinson, principal at William Wells Brown Elementary, said 68 students with low math and reading scores will be in classes at that school, as well special education students and students with mental health needs. Students will have their own supplies and materials.

Garden Springs Elementary Principal Joey Sheroan said students will come on Monday and Wednesday and Tuesday and Thursday.

Students with intellectual delays or other disabilities and English language learners will be offered targeted services.

Twenty-two students will initially have the classes and in November, pending hybrid classes, other students who need extra help will arrive.

The state K-12 Public Health Report as of October 12 said there had been 258 positive cases among students and 15 among staff.

Spires mentioned at the meeting that some social workers and teachers had gone on home visits to discover that children had COVID-19, had been exposed or were quarantining for 14 days.

District spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said the district was mitigating the risks to staff and making sure families knew expectations regarding COVID cases.

Fayette County Schools can’t require COVID-19 testing of students or staff, but 80 percent of staff have said they would submit to coronavirus testing.

To prepare for a return to classes, in a survey, families essentially were asked if they want to send their children back to the classroom for two days each week and have them learn at home three, or keep them home altogether.

One survey question asked whether the family wanted hybrid learning, in which the child would attend school two days each week and have instruction off campus the other three. The district would follow all state safety protocols to address the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the hybrid model, students would be divided into two demographically diverse groups. One group of students would go to school on Mondays and Tuesdays and another group would go to school on Thursday and Fridays. When they are not on campus, students would learn remotely.

On Wednesdays, schools would be deep cleaned and students would be learning from home.

District officials have made attempts to clarify questions raised by the survey since it was distributed last week.

The survey does not lock families into a decision. It is for school planning purposes, said Murphy.

The remote instruction option will accommodate specialized programs. Staffing will be contingent on which teachers remain in remote instruction and which teach in classrooms.

In one effort to keep students safer from COVID-10, school board membèrs have also decided to spend more than $100,000 at the current Tates Creek High School to install Ultraviolet-C lights in the ductwork of the HVAC system in the classrooms to help improve the indoor air quality.

There have been studies that have demonstrated that UVC lighting is effective at killing indoor pathogens and other virus molecules and is recommended as a viable solution by the American Society of Heating and Refrigeration Engineering to help mitigate risk with the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

A new Tates Creek High School building is under construction but won’t be ready for several months, and the existing building has had significant problems with indoor air quality even before the coronavirus outbreak.

This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 1:26 PM.