Every grade in every school in Fayette needs to be opened NOW

We are experiencing a community health crisis in Lexington and I’m not referring to the coronavirus. There was a time – pre-pandemic – when public education would have been near the top of any sane person’s list of priorities for how to serve the public good. The health of a community is inextricably tied to the health of its public schools. The benefits of quality education are innumerable, well defined, and not up for debate. But for nearly a year, more than 40,000 students in Fayette County haven’t darkened the doors of their public schools. It is long past time for this nonsense to come to an end. FCPS is failing our students and by extension, our community. Our schools need to be opened; every school and every grade, and not in long, drawn-out stages according to a complicated and multivariate matrix; they need to be opened now.

Functioning in a pandemic is not without precedent, mind you. Determined to open its doors, the Lexington Opera House turned its hallowed stage into a miniature golf course. Determined to keep their ovens hot and employees paid, Lexington restaurants built elaborate parking lot tents to keep diners at tables. Determined to keep their 7,000 employees productive and manufacturing lines humming, Toyota took the steps all reasonable and motivated organizations did: masking, temperature checks, plexiglass, and distancing measures. But Fayette County Public Schools have remained closed to students, not because the science or the public health experts said they should remain closed, but because district officials lacked the determination to open the doors. And that’s because, in addition to a community health crisis, we are experiencing a leadership crisis. The pandemic has shown the importance of competent district leadership and an effective Board of Education, while laying bare the lack of both in Lexington. Parents have watched for months as district officials grasped for any semblance of a “plan” to reopen while the Board sat idly by, demanding nothing more than “try again next time.” What we are witnessing is a failure of leadership by district officials and a failure of oversight by the Board. Making matters worse, community members have been shut out from providing any meaningful feedback since the pandemic began. It should not be this way. Not only do our children deserve better but so do Lexington property owners who send hundreds of millions of dollars annually to FCPS.

And now, as K-2 students are finally set to return to the classroom, we are being told that remaining “phases” for return are in jeopardy due to a bus driver and cafeteria employee shortage. These are obstacles that could have been anticipated and planned for but District officials see nothing but problems waiting for excuses. Acting Superintendent Marlene Helm said this week “we have every intention…of bringing back every student. It may be that we come out with some really creative ideas of how to do it.” Those ideas would have been creative back in August; now they are just woefully and shamefully past due.

FCPS District Officials have repeatedly proven themselves either unsuited for the task or lacking the courage to act. The FCPS Board Chair, Tyler Murphy, fails to see the rank hypocrisy of himself teaching in person two counties over but refusing to demand the same in the district he purports to lead. Are they really “about kids”? It is imperative that we solve this staffing problem immediately and expedite the opening of our schools. FCPS has lost the privilege of continuing to act independently and it’s time to bring additional voices to the table. Be it at a public town hall or a board meeting finally open to the public, we must hear from parents, community leaders, and business professionals, all of whom have been wildly creative in adjusting to life during a pandemic.

Matthew Vied is the dad of a FCPS first grader, a public school advocate, and an administrator for the Let Them Learn Facebook group.