JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio

JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio announces school will be closed for three weeks due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools is preparing for the "strong possibility" that the governor's recommended two-week stoppage of in-school instruction across Kentucky will prolong as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic forces continued closures of public spaces across the U.S., Superintendent Marty Pollio said Monday.

JCPS and other districts have announced they will close their doors to students for at least two weeks, heeding Gov. Andy Beshear's advice as the state tries to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.

At JCPS and other Louisville-area school systems, the break will be three weeks thanks to spring break.

Kentucky's largest district of nearly 99,000 students is scheduled to resume classes on April 6, but Pollio said that may be pushed back after recently published guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that recommended halting events of more than 50 people for at least the next eight weeks in light of COVID-19's spread.

Pollio said the CDC's guidance exempted schools, "but I think it's going to be difficult for schools to wrestle with, 'Do we go back if the CDC recommended eight weeks away?'"

If JCPS followed that guidance, schools would be shut down until May 11, he said.

President Donald Trump urged everyone Monday to avoid social gatherings with as few as 10 people, according to news reports.

Pollio said there's a chance that JCPS held its last day of in-school instruction on Friday.

"That's a possibility," he said during a news conference Monday at VanHoose Education Center. "I'm hoping that's not the case."

JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio coronavirus 3-16-20.jpg

JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio discusses the district's latest steps in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during a March 16, 2020, news conference.

For now, JCPS and most other school districts in Kentucky are moving to non-traditional instruction, a program managed by the Kentucky Department of Education that allows schools to offer remote learning during closures without losing instructional days.

Pollio said the Jefferson County Board of Education will likely be asked to approve the district's NTI plan during a special meeting Thursday.

The plan would essentially codify the current optional lessons that students were sent home with Friday, both in digital and physical forms. Students are being asked to complete at least 10 projects from a "choice board" to complete during the currently scheduled two-week closure.

"If additional days are added to an extended closure, hard copies of new materials will be distributed at the sites where lunch is being offered," the district's NTI plan says.

Pollio's primary concern about transitioning to remote learning, however, is that many students lack access to computers and internet at home. The district is exploring the possibility of issuing Chromebooks to students, he said.

Supply -- how many JCPS has -- and demand -- how many the district can get as schools and others scramble for laptops to conduct work remotely -- will be key factors in such decisions, he said.

"Without internet or WiFi access for students, those Chromebooks become useless," he said.

To that end, Pollio said he's asking internet providers and others in the Louisville area to come up with ways to connect students digitally during the weekslong stoppage of in-class learning.

"If we truly want to provide that type of instruction for our students and use NTI days effectively, students are going to have to have devices and they're going to have to have internet access," Pollio said.

"So I would really challenge our community: We need to step up and see how we can meet the needs of our students in that way."

He also worries about how students will be promoted to higher grades and graduate from high school in light of the COVID-19 closures. "Instructional minutes," he said, "are so important."

"I think all school districts are wrestling with that right now," Pollio said.

Pollio said the district will close its central office entirely starting close of business Monday and that the JCPS hotline, 313-HELP, if families need assistance during that time.

He also announced that non-essential staff will be required to work from home while the district is closed. Some employees in operations, maintenance, custodial and adminsitrative roles will be asked to continue on-site work, he said.

"We're taking every opportunity to allow our employees to telecommute moving forward until we are through this," Pollio said.

He also said substitute teachers and bus drivers would get opportunities to work for the district in other ways during the closure, such as helping with cleaning.

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