LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville-area Catholic schools will be expected to follow Kentucky’s “Healthy at School” reopening guidance as they prepare to begin the 2020-21 school year in August, the Archdiocese of Louisville’s superintendent said Thursday.
Leisa Schulz, the Archdiocese’s superintendent of schools, said area Catholic schools will be tasked with developing their own reopening plans and communicating those with parents.
Some schools are working on videos so families can know what to expect when in-person classes resume, and the traditional school day will be altered by COVID-19 at Catholic schools, she said.
The Archdiocese’s primary goal, she said, is providing a safe environment for students and staff when in-person classes resume.
“We’ve come through a lot in these last many months, and so I think having some anxiety about things being different, there’s been a lot of change and in a very, very short period of time,” Schulz said. “I certainly think that that’s natural.”
Students will be expected to wear masks unless they can maintain appropriate social distancing, have assigned seats in classes and on buses and get their temperatures screened upon entry, which may be staggered by grade.
Schools will also emphasize hand hygiene and require regular sanitation of surfaces. Schools may also alter how meals are delivered with students, such as requiring students to eat meals in classrooms.
While public school districts have either implemented or are exploring virtual learning options for families who don’t want to send their children back to school amid COVID-19, Schulz said such decisions will be left to individual schools in the Archdiocese system.
“Families within the schools I know are in touch with their principals to talk about what their needs are and what the school may be able to provide to those parents and to those students,” she said.
Still, the Archdiocese is taking precautions if students or staff come to school showing symptoms of COVID-19 or if there are outbreaks that warrant closures. Schools will be asked to isolate those individuals before sending them home.
Schools will also be prepared to transition to remote learning if needed, she said.
Like other school systems throughout Kentucky, the Archdiocese moved its schools to distance learning in the closing months of the 2019-20 school year at the recommendation of Gov. Andy Beshear in hopes of mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
That gave Catholic schools opportunities to build their online education platforms, she said.
“There might be some isolated or intermittent times where schools may have to go back on to remote learning,” Schulz said. “... We do have those contingencies available to us.”
To promote social distancing, some schools situated within parish communities may take advantage of the extra space, Schulz said.
“They have the opportunity to really look at some additional space, parish meeting rooms, gymnasiums, cafeterias, larger spaces that can be used for classroom instruction to help spread out,” she said.
The Archdiocese is exploring virtual field trip options rather than traveling to locations, and schools may also get more time for recess to give students time to spread out and enjoy fair weather, she said.
Jefferson County Catholic schools are scheduled to begin the 2020-21 school year on Aug. 12 despite a pending move by Jefferson County Public Schools to delay its starting date until Aug. 25.
Other Archdiocese schools will open on different schedules, with some starting classes as early as Aug. 5, Schulz said.
“While we had good interactions with students through remote learning, they haven’t seen each other face-to-face, so we want to spend time welcoming students and families back and also welcoming our teachers back,” Schulz said.
While a Jefferson County Teachers Association survey found that thousands of JCPS teachers preferred starting the year with nontraditional instruction rather than a return to in-person classes, Schulz said similar concerns of reopening schools hadn’t come to her attention.
“I am not aware of any large numbers in terms of concerns or issues,” she said, noting that individual schools had issued surveys to stakeholders. “I know that certainly at each location just like in every workplace there may be individuals that have questions, that might be wondering, and so I know that they would then be speaking with their principals to let them know what their questions and their issues are.”
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