LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The Kentucky Board of Education has granted a sweeping waiver to allow school districts not already part of the state’s non-traditional instruction program to join for the rest of the 2019-20 school year as they grapple with a global pandemic that has closed schools throughout the country.
Kevin Brown, interim education commissioner, said Wednesday that all school districts not already part of the program have applied to join, and the board’s unanimous vote will allow them to offer remote instruction as they’re closed to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.
The 2019-20 school year began with 83 districts participating in the program. If approved by their local school boards, all 172 public school districts in Kentucky will be part of it.
The Jefferson County Board of Education is scheduled to consider the application submitted to the state by Jefferson County Public Schools during a special meeting Thursday.
The state’s non-traditional instruction program allows schools to offer remote learning for up to 10 days during closures, though Brown said at the start of Wednesday’s special meeting that he expects action from the General Assembly or Gov. Andy Beshear, who recommended schools close for at least two weeks, to extend that allowance.
Brown said he took a "leap of faith" and "went out on a limb" in telling school districts that they would be allowed to enter the non-traditional instruction program as they began closing in response to COVID-19.
"We felt pretty confident that this board would understand this scenario," Brown said. "We had to make a decision on the fly because people were making plans, as you all know, as this issue developed and changed overnight.
"We needed to give districts some clarity and some guidance that they could in fact rely on NTI days through this emergency waiver process."
A bill that would double the program to 20 days, which has a floor amendment that would expand it to 30 days, is scheduled for a floor vote in Kentucky’s House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The House took no action on House Bill 461 on Wednesday.
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