Free meals. Masks indoors and out. What schools will be like when Fayette students return.

Free breakfast and lunch will be available to all students regardless of income in Fayette County Public Schools when the district returns to in-person learning this academic year, Director of Child Nutrition Michelle Coker said Monday.

Anyone 18 and under continuing to learn remotely from home can also pick up meals that the school district has been providing at school buildings.

District officials said they will decide and announce Tuesday whether students will return to in-person learning the week of Feb. 8. The seven-day average of new cases as of Monday was 188, which puts it into the remote-learning only phase of the district’s return-to-school matrix.

With the exception of limited face-to-face instruction, Fayette students have largely been learning from home since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020. District officials have announced that widespread in-person learning won’t begin before Feb. 5 and then, once the decision is made to return, would start in phases, starting with kindergarten through second-grade. There will be no pre-determined time between when various grades are brought back.

Acting superintendent Marlene Helm said at a Monday school board meeting that the return will occur “when the data and science” permits.

One factor in deciding a return to in person learning is the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine for staff. Fayette school staff began last week receiving the first dose of their COVID-19 vaccine. During the first five days of distribution, the University of Kentucky reported that at least 5,422 doses were given to K-12 public and private employees.

The free meals are just one of the changes that district officials discussed as part of their return to school plan on Monday:

For example, a video about Veterans Park Elementary’s proposed return to in-person learning presented at Monday’s school board meeting said kindergarten through second grade students will eat lunch in the classrooms and lunches will be pre-ordered each day. Students will be wearing masks indoors and during outdoor recess.

Veterans Park Principal Molly Dabney and Tates Creek High School Principal Marty Mills said in a presentation that masks can only be lowered when eating and drinking. At all schools, there will be new health protocols for hallways, classrooms and restrooms, officials said.

A note from a medical professional on letterhead will be needed for students asking for an exemption for wearing masks. Special needs students may have an exemption included in their learning plan, said district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall.

Board member Stephanie Spires said parents have told her that some schools have not provided advance information about new protocols when children return to schools, but district officials said all schools will post that information by Friday.

Chief Academic Officer Kate McAnelly said most students who are supposed to participate in remote learning are doing so. For the few students who aren’t participating in remote learning, teachers will have special diagnostic tests to evaluate them when they do return to in-person learning.

A new robust in-person summer school program with help from community groups is planned for June and July with breakfast and lunch and transportation provided that will offer deeper learning, said McAnelly.

And she said to further help students recover learning, there will be new before and after school learning programs for the school year 2021-2022 with transportation and snacks provided.

Chief Operating Officer Myron Thompson said to improve indoor air quality, HVAC improvements are being made in several school buildings. A district news release said there were HVAC upgrades at 19 schools with the oldest systems in the district, including the addition of UVC lights.

“ Air purifiers will also be available for all classrooms. At schools with more modern HVAC systems, the district will run those systems longer each day to assist with indoor air quality, the news release said.

The district has “ample supplies” of personal protective equipment when students return, Thompson said.

This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 8:24 PM.