Fayette County Board of Education gets construction and mask wearing update
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – On Monday, the Fayette County Board of Education heard about school construction updates, mask wearing recommendations for elementary and middle schools and when in-person meetings are expected to resume.
The board says it anticipates transitioning to in-person meetings next month.
Acting Superintendent Marlene Helm says the school district’s COVID-19 Core Team is developing a return to school guidance for the upcoming school year. The document will be released publicly prior to the start of school, according to Helm.
Lexington-Fayette County Commissioner of Health, Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, told the board that two-thirds of adults in the county are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, while three-fourths of adults have had at least one shot. He reported only 18 percent of people between the ages of 12-and-17 in Lexington are fully vaccinated.
Currently there isn’t a vaccine for children under the age of 12, so the health department is recommending that students and employees at elementary and middle schools continue to wear face coverings and follow other precautions for unvaccinated populations during the Summer Ignite program.
FCPS Chief Operating Officer Myron Thompson told the board the new Tates Creek High School building is 50-percent complete. The new school is scheduled to open in July of next year.
COO Thompson also reported the security vestibule for the new Carter G. Woodson Preparatory Academy is 95-percent complete and will be done this July.
The FCPS report on the board meeting is below with additional news and information:
Board Chair Tyler Murphy welcomed members of the public watching the school board meeting online and viewing the meeting in the primary location at 450 Park Place. The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department has advised adults in the school district to continue meeting virtually wherever possible, including faculty meetings, committee meetings, professional learning opportunities, and meetings of the Fayette County Board of Education. The board anticipates transitioning to in-person meetings next month.
Acting Superintendent Marlene Helm shared that the Fayette County Public Schools COVID-19 Core Team is developing a return to school guidance document for the 2021-22 school year that will be released to the community prior to the start of school. She thanked the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department for partnering closely with the school district throughout the pandemic and credited their guidance with the ability to keep students in school from February through May and during Summer Ignite.
Lexington-Fayette County Commissioner of Health Dr. Kraig Humbaugh, who will be retiring this summer, presented an update regarding COVID-19 within the community, sharing that Fayette County is making good progress in the fight against the pandemic. “The power of vaccinations to produce immunity is certainly apparent,” he said, noting that two-thirds of adults in Fayette County are fully vaccinated, while three-fourths of adults have had at least one shot. However, he said, only 18 percent of individuals between the ages of 12 and 17 in Lexington are fully vaccinated.
There is not a vaccine for children under the age of 12, Humbaugh cautioned, which is why the Health Department has recommended that students and employees at elementary and middle schools continue to wear face coverings and follow other precautions for unvaccinated populations during Summer Ignite. That is consistent with CDC guidelines and the American Academy of Pediatrics guidance, Humbaugh said. “The last several months have shown that students are certainly capable of wearing face coverings correctly and consistently to prevent spread of disease and we have recommended that they continue to do that in these settings,” he said, noting that state mandates for masks on public transportation remain in effect, so masks are required on school buses during Summer Ignite.
Also during the superintendent’s report, World Language Specialist Dr. Laura Roche’ Youngworth gave an update on the district’s Seal of Biliteracy initiative, which recognizes students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages upon high school graduation. FCPS is the only district in the state that has adopted the Seal of Biliteracy system-wide. In the spring of 2021, 216 students applied for the designation and 147 were awarded the Seal of Biliteracy for mastering both English and another world language. In addition to English, languages represented include Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Filipino, French, German, Gujarati, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Nepali, Russian, Spanish, and Wolof.
Chief Operating Officer Myron Thompson shared the
June construction highlights, noting that the security vestibule for the new Carter G. Woodson Preparatory Academy is 95% complete and will be done in July. He also shared an update on the new Tates Creek High School building, where 50% of the work is complete. The new school is slated to open in July of 2022.
During the portion of the meeting for remarks by citizens, Board Chair Tyler Murphy explained that the board has instituted a process to allow members of the public to sign up to speak in advance of regular school board meetings similar to that used by the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council. Details on that process are available at
http://www.fcps.net/PublicComment.
No one who signed up to speak regarding matters permitted pursuant to district policy, however, a written comment from Rick Thompson was received. His full submission will be shared with the board members and included in the board meeting record, which is not the same as the board meeting minutes.
The board voted to approve:
The school board’s action meetings are televised live on FCPS-ETV (Spectrum Channel 197, Windstream Channel 13, and MetroNet Channel 2) starting at 6 p.m. The meetings are also replayed the same week at 8 p.m. Wednesday, 10 p.m. Saturday, and 10 p.m. Sunday and are archived through the
FCPS YouTube channel. Planning and action meetings are also streamed live through the district’s
YouTube channel and
Video on Demand service. If watching on the district website, please hover over the Live Streams banner at the top and click on the play button to begin on your device.
Leave a Reply