COVID closes 2nd KY public school district. Catholic school seeks vaccination status.
Knott County Schools will be closed through Friday to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, Superintendent Brent Hoover said Tuesday night.
“To increase mitigation efforts and prevent the further spread of COVID-19, schools in Knott County will be closed through Friday,” Hoover said in a Facebook post. “This includes all extracurricular activities, school-sponsored events, and practices. I want to ensure you that student and staff safety will continue to be our top priority.”
On Tuesday, all of Knott County — not just the school district — had the 17th highest incidence rate in Kentucky at 92.6 percent, according to state public health data. The incidence rate is the daily new cases per 100,000 population based on the previous seven days.
Lee County public schools were closed Monday through Wednesday after a surge in COVID-19 cases, Superintendent Sarah Wasson previously said.
The districts in Beattyville and Hindman are among the first in Kentucky to shut down this academic year due to the coronavirus. After cases decreased earlier in the summer, the state and the country are experiencing a surge.
The governor announced Tuesday that there were 3,276 new cases in the state, more than one-quarter of which were in children 18 and under. The statewide positivity rate hit 12.47% on Tuesday, surpassing the previous high of 12.45% on Jan. 10.
In Lexington, Lexington Catholic High School principal Matthew George, in an email on Tuesday, asked families for students’ vaccination status.
“We are asking for a volunteer vaccination status of all students,” George said in the email.
The information will help the administration determine the need for quarantines and protocols should a student come in contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive, George said.
He said the information won’t be shared outside the school’s COVID response team.
Families can sign a decline-to-answer form or attach a vaccination card showing the student is fully or partially vaccinated, the email said.
In a situation involving Pike County Schools, Superintendent Reed Adkins said on Aug. 13, some students were asked to leave the school building when they refused to wear a mask, the Pikeville Appalachian News-Express reported.
Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive order says that people inside schools must wear masks.
The students who refused to wear masks were asked to return home because they could not enter the building and attend classes in person without a mask, Adkins said.
Students who are uncomfortable wearing a mask have alternative learning options, such as virtual learning, the newspaper reported.
This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 6:37 AM.