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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools will decide Sunday whether to reopen classrooms or continue with remote learning, Superintendent Marty Pollio said Friday.

That timeline is similar to past decisions on transitioning to nontraditional instruction so far this year. JCPS has used eight of its 10 days allotted for nontraditional instruction for the 2021-22 school year this month amid a record surge of COVID-19 infections throughout Kentucky.

Kentucky school districts have also been granted 10 days per school of targeted remote learning, which allows Pollio to shutter specific schools, classes, grades or groups of students in response to significant absences related to COVID-19.

"We want nothing more than to be in-person next week, but we are going to have to evaluate the numbers and make sure that we can hold school safely," Pollio said. "We're going to be working throughout the weekend, making a decision on Sunday afternoon to decide what's best for the district."

Both nontraditional instruction and remote learning are options for JCPS next week, Pollio said.

"We'll be working to make the best decisions for students and staff across this district as we always do," he said. "... In the end, we want to do what's best for safety and health first and then obviously learning as well."

Staffing during the latest uptick in COVID-19 infections has posed challenges for JCPS and other school districts around the state.

COVID-19 cases and quarantines among staff were slightly higher Friday than they were the morning of Jan. 10, the first day classrooms closed at JCPS.

Six-hundred-and-eighty-three district employees had active COVID-19 cases, and another 123 are in quarantine as of 12 p.m. Friday, according to district data.

Fewer than 600 active cases and fewer than 100 quarantines among JCPS staff were reported around 10 a.m. Jan. 10.

The district's COVID-19 numbers "don't really look any better" now compared to when JCPS made the decision to transition to remote learning, Jefferson County Teachers Association President Brent McKim said Friday.

"I think the hope is that maybe maybe they will look better, and you don't know until you give them time, so I think the superintendent is going to try to provide as much time as possible to see if if the numbers make it doable to operate" he said. "... While it's not ideal and not as good as being in-person, (NTI) is better than the sort of in person situation we had when we didn't have enough adults to keep kids safe."

McKim said he hoped lawmakers would give JCPS and other districts help if they find themselves facing school years that extend "well into the summer" as they handle staffing shortages caused by COVID-19.

Without relief for the ongoing staff and substitute shortages experienced by Kentucky school districts, McKim sees the problem worsening as school workers struggle with burnout.

"We're seeing unprecedented numbers of educators leaving the profession not only in Louisville but across the country, and it takes a long time to get someone prepared to be a teacher," he said. "... We need to do everything we can to not lose our teachers."

Pollio previously said that he hoped the break in in-person learning would allow staff to complete their quarantines and report back to work.

"We are trying to get every possible day of in-person instruction that we have," he said during a Jan. 10 news conference.

The Jefferson County Board of Education narrowly voted down a recommendation Tuesday to ease quarantining and contact tracing requirements at JCPS based on updated federal and state guidance.

McKim said most of the feedback he received from teachers on the board's decision was positive.

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