No timeline yet to begin in-person classes in Fayette County

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Manny Caulk says the district is waiting on results from a survey sent to families last week before moving forward with tentative or firm dates on returning to in-person instruction or a hybrid schedule of in-person classes and online learning.

In the survey, families were essentially asked if they want to send their children back to the classroom for two days each week and learn at home online three, or keep them home altogether.

Families have until this Wednesday, October 14, to turn-in their surveys.  Superintendent Caulk says as of Sunday, October 11, some 12,000 surveys had been returned.

Caulk says a decision on the schedule going forward could come at the next Fayette County Board of Education meeting on October 26.

The school district says beginning Monday, October 19, 2020, small groups of the district’s most vulnerable elementary school students will receive in-person instruction from 2-to-4 p.m.  It will mark the first face-to-face instruction in the district since the pandemic hit in March.

The “targeted services” are for students with low test scores, with special needs, mental health concerns or need help learning English, according to the district.

At its meeting on Monday, the board heard from principals’ from across the school district about their plans to keep students safe once they return to the classroom.

Those plans include mandatory masks, temperature checks in schools and on buses and bus drivers and bus monitors would wear N-95 masks, which are considered the best available option for personal protective equipment against COVID-19.  The masks are worn by front-line healthcare workers and first responders.  The plans also include cleaning and sanitizing classrooms.

In the meantime, Fayette County students will continue to learn online at home as the coronavirus continues to dictate the school district’s plans and schedule.

In other business, the board voted to have Ultraviolet-C lights installed in the ductwork of the HVAC system at Tates Creek High School.  The purpose is to improve the indoor air quality, which has been an issue at the school long before the pandemic hit.  A new Tates Creek High School is under construction, but is months away from completion, according to the school district.