Fayette schools to close Monday due to illness, ‘unusually high absences’

Due to widespread illness among students and staff, all Fayette County Public Schools will be closed on Monday, Nov. 7, district officials said Sunday afternoon.

Anticipated staff absences on Monday would make it difficult to ensure that bus routes and classes are covered and that students have enough support, district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said in a statement.

Schools were already scheduled to be closed for Election Day on Tuesday.

Both Monday and Tuesday are days off; they are not NTI, or at home learning days.

Students and staff are not required to report what kind of illness they have, so Deffendall could not provide further detail about the kind of sickness people are experiencing.

The Kentucky School Boards Association has reported that at least 24 other school districts across the state have closed so far in November due to illness. Some school districts have said that they are seeing a significant number of flu cases.

During this two-day break, Fayette custodial staff will conduct a deep cleaning of all campuses, classrooms, and facilities.

District leaders routinely monitor student and staff absences throughout the year.

“Over the past week, the number of students and staff out continued to climb, with several pockets of unusually high absences,” said the statement.

“After the extended closures during COVID-19, our community has clearly communicated the importance of keeping schools open to in-person learning as much as possible, and our superintendent, teachers, and staff agree,” the statement said.

This is a developing story.

This story was originally published November 6, 2022 at 4:56 PM.