‘Exponential increase’ in cases in Fayette schools; 304 quarantined at one school

New Fayette Superintendent Demetrus Liggins on Thursday said there had been an “exponential” increase in COVID-19 cases and quarantines in the school district over the past week.

District spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said at Jessie Clark Middle School, district officials received reports of 10 students and four staff testing positive for COVID-19 since the first day of school. Those 14 cases have led to quarantines for 304 students. All but 71 of those students will be able to return to school next week Monday or Tuesday, she said.

In addition to the enhanced cleaning and sanitization protocols already in place at Jessie Clark, out of an abundance of caution, the campus will undergo a deep cleaning.

Fayette school district’s dashboard for COVID-19 cases has been taken down temporarily so that accurate numbers can be added, Liggins said during a Thursday school board meeting.

“We are committed to be honest with our students and our staffs and our families about where we were with COVID cases in our schools and quarantines. However we did find that due to the exponential increase in the number of cases and quarantines over the past week that we just did not have the staff structure in place to keep that up to date,” he said.

Classes in Fayette County began Aug. 11.

Liggins said the case and quarantine database would return to the district’s website on Monday.

“We can make sure we are providing accurate information to our families that they so desperately want and need,” Liggins said

There are 208 Fayette County Public Schools-related COVID-19 cases currently active, said Lexington-Fayette Public Health Department spokesman Kevin Hall.

Of those, 181 are students and 27 are staff members in the school district.

The onset of symptoms or test date ranges from Aug. 7 through Aug. 18. The data is current through Aug. 19.

Of the current Fayette schools student cases, 110 are ages 5 to 11 and 71 are ages 12 to 18. Students 11 and under are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to a Herald-Leader analysis, over the last seven days in the entire county of Fayette there has been an increase of 1,308 cases total with 60 children under the age of 5, 193 in the 5-14 age range and 68 in the 15-19 age range..

The COVID-19 Dashboard was designed to include data collected by both the FCPS COVID-19 call center and the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department so that the community has a complete picture of the landscape surrounding the virus, Deffendall said. Due to the growing number of cases and quarantines in Fayette County over the past week, the existing staff was unable to log the individual school quarantines into the database in a timely manner.

Liggins and district officials did not immediately provide overall numbers of cases or quarantines.

Tates Creek Middle Principal Eric Thornbury told families in a message Thursday that three students had tested positive for COVID-19 there.

“We have worked in consultation with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department to respond appropriately based on factual information, and have conducted contact tracing, a process of identifying and analyzing the interactions the individual has had with others to assess any potential exposures,” he said.

“Everyone who may have had close contact with the individual who tested positive for COVID-19 has already been notified, and out of an abundance of caution, they will self-quarantine for a full 10 days from the time of their last interaction,” said Thornbury.

Dealing with quarantines

Deffendall said schools must develop instructional plans that address the possibility of quarantines for individual students, groups of students from the same class, or entire classrooms of students. That may be a mix of virtual instruction, synchronous learning, individual assignments, asynchronous learning and online programs and platforms.

Bryan Station High School officials said in a recent message to families that quarantined students are encouraged to log on to the online Canvas instruction platform regularly to access content, complete assignments and contact their teachers with any questions.

Teachers are not required to Zoom students into live classes, teacher discretion will be used to determine if it is essential for a student to Zoom into a class.

Liggins said strict safety and health protocols was making the return to in person learning possible in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the school district should have somewhat of a normal year with field trips and extra-curricular activities.

“We are committed to in-person learning,” said Liggins. But he said district officials had received several questions about the increase in cases, particularly the highly contagious Delta variant, and whether the district would shift to virtual learning.

“Should conditions in the virus change to warrant reconsideration of our current mode of instruction there would have to be action from Frankfort in order to make that possible as it currently is not an option at the local level,” Liggins said.

The district has developed robust contact tracing, isolation and quarantine protocols to mitigate the potential spread of the virus, and works closely with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department to ensure accurate information about cases and quarantines among students and employees, district officials said.

Problems with buses continue

Liggins said also there were some concerns in the area of transportation, with a school bus driver shortage. Liggins said the district was trying to be innovative and staff was working hard to provide as much service as possible. Deffendall said as of Thursday there were 28 school bus driver vacancies.

At least eight routes were canceled Thursday and others have been canceled and delayed prior to that.

Deffendall said the district is facing hiring challenges similar to any other industry in the face of the pandemic.

The Fayette County Public School District has tried to boost hiring and attendance by raising pay and offering attendance incentives.

They’ve also made a focused effort to recruit.

“We’ve hired a recruiter just to focus on areas like transportation and child nutrition,” Deffendall said.

They’ve hosted job fairs and are encouraged by the applications they’ve received, Deffendall said.

Liggins said the district was trying to let families know when there was a delay. In addition to calls about route cancellations there will be messages on the district’s website.

School board chairman Tyler Murphy said all board members have gotten questions about how the pandemic and school bus driver shortages are effecting the district.

School board members also discussed temporary COVID emergency leave for employees but did not take a vote.

Human Resource Director Jennifer Dyar said district officials are recommending providing 10 paid COVID related sick days to fully vaccinated employees if they or their children have to quarantine or are isolated . That would cost about $500,000. The Fayette COVID employee policy mirrors a state regulation. Board members are expected to vote on it Monday.

Employees who are not fully vaccinated would not get that specific leave. Certified teachers already have ten paid sick days.

This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 9:36 PM.