LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools students and teachers are waiting for a decision on whether they can return to school in-person.
JCPS schools remain empty, without students, because of remote learning. And that has many students at learning hubs instead, like the one at Kentucky Gymnastics Academy.
"The big benefit is they get to be around other children," said Shannon Wickel, owner of KGA. "They get to move."
From helping young students with math to helping them get online for their class, the second floor has been turned into a classroom with socially distant spaces for students to do their work.
"I get on, do some meetings, and then I do my work, and then I go down and play in the gym," said Katelyn Oatley, a fourth-grader at Stopher Elementary School.
JCPS is doing at least six weeks of non-traditional instruction, but that has parents wondering if that'll continue in October after Fall Break.
Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, said there are union representatives working with the district on a plan for returning to in-person school.
"We'd like to follow the numbers and be guided by those," he said. "If the numbers stay where they are, which is about three times higher than what would be safe, most of the teachers do not feel safe going back in-person."
The new COVID-19 metric will allow school superintendents to use local data to decide on a weekly basis whether to transition to distance learning.
School districts in counties that reach “red,” or have weekly averages of more than 25 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents each day, should move students to remote instruction and suspend athletics, according to guidance from the Cabinet for Health and Family Service and Dr. Connie White, deputy commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
Jefferson County is in "orange" on the state's new COVID-19 metric, which represents heightened community spread of between 10 and 25 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents per day.
"When you see us moving in the right direction and get down in single digits, then we may have a return in the foreseeable future, McKim said.
McKim said everyone agrees that in-person is better than NTI, but he points out that in-person isn't as safe.
At Kentucky Gymnastics Academy, staff members are getting ready to continue helping with remote learning, as long as needed.
"We definitely have cut our numbers," Wickel said. "We thought we could handle 30-50 kids. We can handle 20. And so being realistic with what we had going on, this will continue. I've got staff."
"I feel like NTI is a little frustrating, but in a way, it's better," Oatley said.
JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said unless the school board calls a special meeting, he plans to make his recommendation on the future of school whether it be in-person or more remote learning at the Sept. 29 meeting.
This week, Pollio said he would need to see a regular decline in local COVID-19 caseloads — “and not just a one-week data point” — before recommending a reopening of classrooms.
“I think we need to see a trend,” he said. “The last thing we want is to start school and then stop it two weeks later. I think that would be the most frustrating thing for families and educators.”
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