Ky.’s largest district shifts to virtual learning in COVID surge. Fayette ‘watching.’

Kentucky’s largest school district, Jefferson County, canceled school Monday and will return to at-home learning for at least the rest of this week due to staffing shortages related to COVID-19.

Covington Independent Schools in Northern Kentucky has made a similar move. Fayette school officials said they were prepared for such a shift, but didn’t anticipate an immediate return to remote learning.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reported last week that on Jan. 5 after returning from holiday break, JCPS was experiencing its highest-ever number of active cases for both students and staff -- 1,660 total cases

Fayette schools resumed in-person classes Monday after calling for traditional snow days on Jan. 6 and 7.

Fayette Superintendent Demetrus Liggins told families in a message Sunday night that district officials were closely monitoring COVID-19 cases among students and staff to determine “if we need to make any changes to school schedules.”

“We are aware that cases are increasing and we are watching closely. Just as we did in the fall, we have the ability to shift to non-traditional instruction should that be appropriate,” said Liggins. More than 600 Fayette students were quarantined over the weekend, according to the district’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Liggins said Fayette officials “are grateful that we have not reached a point that would prompt us to take similar action” to Jefferson and stop in person classes.

Several other school districts across the state including Rowan and Fleming counties canceled classes Monday citing concerns about black ice and flooding following last week’s snow storm.

Public school officials in Louisville said in a letter to families Sunday that with a reduced number of staff available to work in schools, Jefferson County’s district is unable to operate school buildings and is making the temporary switch to remote learning.

“This time will allow our staff to recover from COVID and complete quarantines and isolations,” the letter to JCPS families said.

According to state law, school districts have a maximum of 10 non-traditional instruction days to use for the remainder of the school year.

“While we don’t anticipate this being a prolonged period of NTI, we ask families to be flexible as our community continues to see more cases of the Omicron variant increase, “ the letter said.

If staffing levels return to a point that JCPS can safely operate school, their scheduled return to in-person instruction could be Tuesday, January 18, officials said.

This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 7:46 AM.