LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Archdiocese of Louisville and Christian Academy of Louisville will proceed with their plans to reopen schools for in-person instruction starting next week despite Gov. Andy Beshear's recommendation to delay classroom learning until at least Sept. 28, according to the schools.
In a letter to stakeholders, Superintendent Leisa Schulz wrote that the reopening plans for area Catholic schools "will stay on course for the 2020-2021 school year and begin opening our schools for in-person instruction next week." Families also have the option of enrolling their children in distance learning programs.
"I know schools have developed a variety of models to begin the school year and have communicated with families about these details," she wrote.
Christian Academy of Louisville also announced its plans Wednesday to reopen with an option for in-person instruction at its three Kentucky campuses on Aug. 19.
A Christian Academy of Louisville spokesperson told WDRB News that its Kentucky schools will follow guidelines established at its New Albany, Indiana, campus that began the 2020-21 school year on July 22. No COVID-19 cases have been identified among students attending classes there, he said.
Schulz consulted with Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, who spoke with other bishops in Kentucky, before making her decision, according to the letter.
She also consulted with school leaders and heard from families before reaching her decision to proceed with the 2020-21 school year as planned.
"We have been receiving that feedback, and most parents have been very positive and affirming in moving forward," Schulz said in an interview with WDRB News. "We have had some parents that have expressed concerns."
In a separate letter to Beshear on Wednesday, Kurtz and bishops throughout Kentucky informed the governor of their plans to reopen Catholic schools for classroom instruction starting next week.
The state's four dioceses will evaluate their schools' reopening experiences during the week of Sept. 6 and make changes as needed, according to the letter.
"We appreciate the diversity of situations in which individual schools find themselves and the challenge of balancing all of the risks involved," they wrote. "We write to inform you of the diligent work that has been done by the administrators, teachers, parents, and others throughout our Catholic school community, and our plans for safely reopening Kentucky’s Catholic schools.
"We plan to begin reopening our schools for the fall semester next week, with some schools having start dates later in the month."
Beshear recommended Monday that schools avoid classroom learning until at least Sept. 28 given the recent escalation of COVID-19 cases in Kentucky, which currently has a testing positivity rate of 5.62% based on a seven-day rolling average.
The governor said Wednesday that he disagreed with decisions by school leaders to resume in-person learning before Sept. 28, saying he doesn't believe it's "a responsible decision."
If schools offer classroom instruction before the end of September, Beshear said he hoped teachers and possibly students would regularly be tested for COVID-19 during what could be the "peak" of the novel coronavirus.
"Not doing this right right now can have a major impact on a whole community, and I hope given today that they will reconsider," Beshear said Wednesday after announcing a new single-day high of 1,163 COVID-19 cases.
"Again, we're asking for one month that will help us better protect the lives of our kids and of their teachers."
Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Brown told superintendents on a webcast Tuesday that if school leaders choose to ignore the governor's recommendation, he would schedule a conference call with state and local public education leaders in hopes of dissuading districts from pursuing such reopening plans.
If that fails, he said further action could be taken by Beshear, the Kentucky Department for Public Health or the Kentucky Board of Education against schools that choose to provide classroom instruction.
State and local health departments, for instance, could force buildings to close during public health emergencies, Brown said.
But Beshear said he would not issue any executive orders to close schools without consulting with local health departments first and only when there are severe COVID-19 outbreaks that haven't been contained.
School districts that also refuse to help respond to outbreaks could also be closed temporarily by executive action, he said.
"I really hope we don't end up there," Beshear said. "... I'm not going to tell the people of Kentucky that if there is something horrendously dangerous and tons of people are getting COVID I'm not going to step in and do something about it."
Schulz said the Kentucky Department of Education had no jurisdiction over private schools. She noted that local Catholic schools had developed in-person reopening plans around the state's "Healthy at School" guidance.
The Archdiocese of Louisville has worked "hand-in-hand" with the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness as well as other counties' health departments as the local Catholic school system, which had an enrollment of nearly 18,700 students last year, prepared to start the 2020-21 school year, she said.
"We have had a number of Zoom meetings and email exchanges regarding questions from our schools about some of the social distancing and some of the other protocols, and they have been very, very helpful and really a wonderful, collaborative partner for us," Schulz said.
While the Archdiocese of Louisville followed previous recommendations from Beshear on transitioning to remote learning in March and pushing back the start of the 2020-21 school year recently, Schulz said she felt "confident" that Catholic schools could safely reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have planned for many different options and opportunities, and I think we are ready and affirmed by our bishops in terms of moving forward with in-person instruction," she said.
Catholic leaders believe their schools' reopening plans will keep students, teachers and school staff safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our school leaders have developed excellent working relationships with public health officials, particularly our local health departments, and this will enable us to respond effectively to problems as they arise," they wrote in the joint letter to Beshear.
The archbishop and bishops also cited concerns with students' welfare and spiritual, social, emotional and academic progress.
"We are mindful of the challenges parents face as they strive to balance family life, work, and the need to support their families with the needs of children who are trying to participate in non-traditional instruction," they wrote.
If there are cases of COVID-19 that emerge within the local Catholic schools, Schulz says they'll be ready to handle them based on the best available public health guidance in coordination with health departments.
"We all know at this present time there's not a vaccine," she said. "There's not a cure, so all of the layers of things that we're doing -- wearing masks, health hygenie, social distancing, hybrid instructional models -- are ways to allow instruction to continue and also mitigate."
The decision by the Archdiocese of Louisville and the three other Catholic dioceses in Kentucky to push ahead with resuming in-person instruction comes as school districts throughout the state grapple with their 2020-21 reopening plans in light of Beshear's recommendation.
Some school districts, such as Jefferson County Public Schools, announced plans to start the upcoming school year with distance learning.
Others, including Oldham County Schools, quickly decided to alter their reopening plans and begin with remote instruction in light of the governor's directive.
One district's board, Williamstown Independent Schools, decided to proceed with its mix of in-person and virtual learning to start the 2020-21 school year despite Beshear's recommendation on a 3-2 vote Tuesday.
The board's vote "is evidence of how difficult a decision this became" and is also "representative of the majority of our community and their viewpoint on reopening," Superintendent Misty Middleton said in a statement.
School board members "are elected officials and are tasked with making extremely difficult decisions," she said. "The vote on Tuesday night to continue with our reopening plan highlights one of these decisions, but also shows a school board fulfilling their role of supporting students and families."
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
