LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky school districts in counties with the highest COVID-19 spread can offer in-person instruction in January if they take aggressive steps to limit how many people are inside schools, among other steps outlined Monday by Gov. Andy Beshear.
Beshear had ordered public and private schools throughout the state to close their classrooms on Nov. 23, citing a third escalation in the COVID-19 pandemic that had placed most of Kentucky in the “red zone” for coronavirus transmission.
School districts that want to remain open when their counties' average daily coronavirus cases top 25 per 100,000 residents, the "red" threshold in Kentucky's COVID-19 incidence rate map, should take significant steps to implement a hybrid learning model to reduce the numbers of students and staff inside schools, Beshear said.
The state had previously urged schools in "red" counties to move learning completely remote until local caseloads drop.
Schools in "orange" counties will also be asked to transition to a hybrid model of learning, though not as aggressively, in hopes of reducing the number of people inside buildings, Beshear said.
"We recommend that they begin a hybrid model of learning the decreases the volume, the number of individuals inside any school facility, knowing that if we can decrease that number, almost like capacity when we look at other businesses, that it's safer and it's easier to get 6 feet in between individuals," he said.
Whether school districts transition to "more aggressive" hybrid learning models will be left to their discretion, Beshear said.
"If you are already going to start with one step to reduce capacity, think about what the next step would be," he said.
Changes in the incidence rate metric itself suggested by groups like the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents will not be included in Beshear's guidance.
The state's "Healthy at School" guidance, which includes recommendations on social distancing, masking and other public health measures meant to curb the spread of COVID-19, will now be mandatory for schools operating classroom instruction, he said.
School leaders must also provide virtual instruction options that do not negatively affect students' grade-point averages, class ranks and ability to take courses like Advanced Placement classes if in-person instruction continues in counties with high levels of COVID-19 transmission, Beshear said, noting that he knew of at least one school district that did not provide AP classes for students learning from home.
District leaders should also provide working accommodations for staff with health risks if schools remain open in counties with high COVID-19 spread, Beshear said.
"Teachers who are at the highest risk can teach virtually," he said. "This is what it takes to make a school building safe."
Schools must continue reporting COVID-19 cases and quarantines to the state's coronavirus data dashboard, he said.
"Operating safely in a pandemic is hard, but that's why they're the top leaders in education in their community," Beshear said. "We've set out tenets. It's time for them to make it happen. I know they can."
Elementary schools could resume in-person learning on Dec. 7 if their counties had left the highest category of COVID-19 spread, though only a few districts were able to reopen at the time.
Middle and high schools must stay closed until Jan. 4 under Beshear’s executive order, though he said the Kentucky Department for Public Health recommended waiting until Jan. 11 to reopen.
Every county but one was "red" in Kentucky’s COVID-19 incidence rate map as of Thursday, when schools typically determine learning models for the following week. All but one was "red" again on Monday, though Beshear also noted recent improvements in the state's coronavirus data.
More than half of the state’s school districts had already transitioned to distance learning when Beshear unveiled his executive order Nov. 18, and most had reopened their classrooms at some point during the 2020-21 school year.
Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky’s largest school districts, has kept its classrooms closed since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in March. The Jefferson County Board of Education has scheduled a 6 p.m. special meeting Tuesday to discuss Beshear’s guidance and COVID-19 vaccination plans.
The governor has said teachers and school employees will be among the first to have access to COVID-19 vaccines, which will first be distributed to frontline health workers and those who live and work in long-term care facilities.
Kentucky's first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Louisville early Monday.
"Not only is defeating COVID in sight, but getting back to normal school is in sight, too," Beshear said. "We've just got to be careful, and we've got to be patient, and we've got to protect the most vulnerable to get there."
Beshear said he expected vaccines will be available to teachers and school staff in early February depending on how quickly the drugs can be produced and distributed.
"I hope that we can move up that timeline," he said, noting that vaccinating teachers and staff in 171 school districts will be a lengthy process.
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