Fayette schools open in COVID surge. Liggins addresses likelihood of remote learning.

More than 40,000 Fayette County Public Schools students returned Wednesday to in-person learning amid the steepest surge of coronavirus cases that Lexington has had in months.

Lexington has been averaging 130 new COVID-19 cases per day for the first time since early February, according to data from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. On Wednesday, 156 new cases were reported.

Despite that, new Superintendent Demetrus Liggins said Wednesday that in-person learning — not districtwide remote learning used in the previous pandemic-engulfed academic year — would prevail in 2021-2022.

“Changes at the state level no longer allow school districts to offer districtwide remote learning for extended periods of time,” Liggins said. “Districtwide learning will only be considered if required under orders from the governor, mandated by the Kentucky Department of Education, or compelled by extraordinary circumstances.”

“We are going to be in-person learning with our teachers and students together,” he said.

Individuals or classrooms of students quarantined by COVID will be able to learn from home and that could include virtual instruction.

“Our goal is to make sure that we can make up any learning gaps that may have occurred with our students over the last year and a half. Try to fill in gaps and make sure our students are back on track and learning,” Liggins said as he arrived at the newest special program in the district, Carter G. Woodson Preparatory Academy, opening for the first time.

Kayla Johnson took her son Royal Johnson, 5, to the preparatory school. The program, which is housed in the renovated Johnson Elementary building on East Sixth Street, will initially hold classes for up to 150 boys in grades K-2.

After that, a level will be added every year until the school has grades K-5.

Long lines of fathers and mothers in the downtown neighborhood walked their sons to the new program in a historic building.

Royal wants to be a scientist.

“He’s excited about the lab coats. He’s proud,” Kayla Johnson said.

The STEM-focused curriculum of science, technology, engineering, and math is taught through the lens of Black history, culture, and culturally responsive teaching and learning strategies. The district also has a Carter G. Woodson Academy for middle and high school students on the same Winchester Road campus as Frederick Douglass High School.

Liggins said the new preparatory school will provide a unique avenue and curriculum for young boys who are interested in STEM “and making sure they have every opportunity to grow and to learn and to realize they are capable of doing amazing things.”

Omega Psi Phi fraternity members cheered the male students as they entered the building.

“My hope for students in this new school is that they’ll have the experience like they’ve never had before,” said second-grade teacher Laura Crance.

Program director Jocelyn Mills said staff will use the first day to set an expectant tone for the students, referred to on the campus as “scholars.”

“We feel that they are already doctors, they are already lawyers, they are already scientists, they are engineers. We hope that one day in the future they will look back and say, ‘At 5 years old, someone told me that I was going to be this wonderful engineer and that I was going to make a difference in my community.’

“This is the day that that happens,” Mills said.

Shortly after 8 a.m., Liggins said he knew of no unusual first-day issues.

“Kids are excited to be back in person, teachers and staff are excited to be back in person, I’m excited to be back in person,” he said.

In his Tuesday night message to families, Liggins said Fayette students would have a more normal experience beginning Wednesday morning, with health and safety guidelines in place to reduce the potential for disruption due to COVID-19 cases or quarantines.

This school year, masks are required on school buses and inside schools at all times. Families must agree that they will monitor their children’s health each day and not send them to school if they are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19.

Families are required to report a diagnosis of COVID-19 within 24 hours of receiving the results. School district officials will notify families and employees if they are impacted by a confirmed COVID-19 case at their schools.

COVID-19 remains an evolving situation in the community, Liggins said. Last year, the district used an In-Person Learning Matrix to determine whether instruction would be in-person or virtual. That won’t be the case this school year.

State and national experts are recommending that schools prioritize in-person learning with prevention strategies.

The district has revised the matrix to keep track of COVID-19 cases in the community, but the matrix no longer indicates a threshold where the district would move to virtual learning.

The matrix and a dashboard showing the number of cases and quarantines among FCPS students and employees will be available on the district website this week.

On Tuesday, public health officials said that there were 74 students in home isolation because they had tested positive for COVID 19. From Aug. 3rd through Aug. 9, the district placed 31 students on quarantine because of school-related interactions. There are also 161 Fayette students who have been quarantined due to family or community interactions.

This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 7:45 AM.