Twelve hundred JCPS teachers and support staff from 25 schools rolled up their sleeves for the first dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, potentially allowing the district to reopening schools in a matter of weeks pending the Jefferson County Board of Education’s approval.

"I’m fearful that we have a lot of drivers who are middle-aged or older, they’re going to say, ‘I’m not willing to take that chance,’ and they’re going to leave," said John Stovall, president of the union that represents bus drivers.

The exact timing of the district’s reopening strategy depends greatly on how many doses of COVID-19 vaccines are allocated for JCPS, Pollio told the Jefferson County Board of Education.

The district is working with the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness on a plan to offer drive-through vaccination events once JCPS receives doses of COVID-19 vaccines, according to Pollio and a presentation for the Jefferson County Board of Education during a Tuesday meeting.

Gov. Andy Beshear had previously ordered public and private schools throughout the state to close their classrooms on Nov. 23, citing a third escalation in the COVID-19 pandemic that had placed most of Kentucky in the “red zone” for coronavirus transmission.

Gov. Andy Beshear has said he expects to reveal his administration’s guidelines for some type of in-person instruction starting Jan. 4 for “red zone” counties in the state’s COVID-19 transmission map as early as next week.

Gov. Andy Beshear had said schools could resume elementary instruction this week if counties are not in Kentucky's COVID-19 "red zone."

“I think the urgency around change has become ever more clear in the last few months than ever before previously,” U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a longtime school choice advocate, said during a roundtable event host by the Kentucky Pastors in Action Coalition.

Superintendent Marty Pollio and other JCPS leaders on Tuesday presented the district’s expansive reopening plan to the Jefferson County Board of Education, with specific dates among few details left unresolved.

Board members voted unanimously Tuesday for Superintendent Marty Pollio’s recommendation to continue monitoring local COVID-19 data to determine when to reopen classrooms in Kentucky’s largest school district, potentially starting in late October.