LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Jefferson County Board of Education voted against easing quarantining and contact tracing requirements at Jefferson County Public Schools during a special meeting Tuesday.
The split vote follows COVID-19 guidance revisions by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Kentucky Department for Public Health regarding virus exposures in school settings, particularly in schools with universal masking policies.
Board members Diane Porter, Corrie Shull, Chris Kolb and Joe Marshall voted against revising the district’s COVID-19 policies to reflect changes made by federal and state health officials while board members Sarah Cole McIntosh, James Craig and Linda Duncan voted in favor of amending the policies.
Through its vote, the board rejected significant changes to policies governing quarantines and contact tracing at JCPS based on the latest federal and state guidance.
The proposal would have eliminated contact tracing and quarantines, unless symptomatic, for at-school exposures and cut the number of isolation days after infection down from 10 to five if their symptoms clear. Quarantines for out-of-school exposures could also have been cut short to five days if those affected are symptomatic, test negative for COVID-19 and wear masks for 10 days after their last close contact with someone infected with COVID-19, according to the district’s rejected proposal.
The district’s plan faced staunch resistance among most board members amid the latest escalation of COVID-19 cases. Significant staff absences will force JCPS to use eight of its 10 nontraditional instruction days as of Friday.
Porter, the board’s chairwoman who represents District 1, called the proposal “dangerous” for her district and Kolb, who represents District 2, said board members would be “lowering the bar” of the district’s COVID-19 mitigation strategy.
“I think these recommendations are unnecessary,” Kolb said before Tuesday’s vote. “I think they're reckless, frankly. And as a parent, first and foremost, I just can't support sending my kid to a school system that has these procedures.”
“We're going to have to take people's word on whether or not they really are ready to come back, if they have symptoms or if they don't, and it could put additional stresses on staff and those in the building,” said Marshall, who represents District 4.
The board also authorized JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio to use newly created remote learning days as needed in a unanimous vote during Tuesday’s meeting.
A new law signed into effect Friday grants districts 10 days of targeted remote learning per school through the rest of the 2021-22 academic year to handle absences related to COVID-19. Pollio said he would solicit feedback from principals before deciding to use remote learning days.
“It is challenging as to how to use those, but obviously, we think it's an increased flexibility that we would need,” Pollio said.
This story may be updated.
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