Edmonson School Board Passes Local Mask Mandate

Masks Required Until October 22, 2021

Darren Doyle, story:
The Edmonson County Board of Education voted 3-1 to continue mask requirements in Edmonson County Schools until October 22, 2021.

The decision comes after Governor Andy Beshear's statewide mandate was scrapped by Kentucky lawmakers on Thursday of last week. Beshear vetoed the passed bills, but those vetoes were immediately overturned by legislators. That decision-making power was given back to local schools in Kentucky; however, nothing will change in Edmonson County for now, regarding masks.

In a statement sent to teachers, Superintendent of Edmonson County Schools Brian Alexander discussed the outline of the school board masking decision, which included the following:

• Students must continue to wear face masks while on school buses at all times.
• All staff and students will continue to be required to wear face masks inside school buildings through October 22, 2021.  This is a result of the current high Covid-19 incidence rate for our county.  Fall Break will be October 4-8, 2021 for Edmonson County, and it is our belief that continued masking for at least two weeks afterwards is necessary.  
• On October 25, 2021, individual schools who have had a positive combined student/staff incidence rate of less than 2.5% for five (5) calendar days will be encouraged to, but not required to wear face coverings.  
• If that school’s incidence rate reaches 2.5% or above on any future date, face masks will be required for all staff and students.  When the school’s incidence rate falls below 2.5%, plus an additional five (5) calendar days, the masking of staff and students in that building will return to being optional.

"I would like to point out that the new plan's incident rate will be based on positive cases of staff and students in each building," Alexander said in the statement. "Quarantines will not factor into the incident rate.  The COVID dashboard on the Edmonson County School's District home page will be updated to show where each school stands in relation to the 2.5% incident rate."

Edmonson County School's District COVID dashboard is updated daily and can be viewed here.

As of today, September 14, 2021, the incidence rate at all of Edmonson County's schools are below 2.5%. 

Screenshot of Edmonson County Schools COVID dashboard, Sept. 14, 2021.

All other neighboring school districts have followed suit with their own mask requirements, several with no listed options for going maskless. The KDE mandate will remain in effect until the end of this week.

"We're the only district around trying to do anything like this," Alexander told the Edmonson Voice. "All other districts are masking for foreseeable future or they've set a date of October 22nd, which is two weeks after fall break. The break was problematic this year and we're afraid it will be this year as well."

Alexander also said the staggered schedule used last year is also no longer an option for local schools this year.

The entire adopted COVID-19 Operations Plan for Edmonson County Schools is published below.

Edmonson County Schools
Covid-19 Operations Plan
(Approved 9/13/21)
 
Introduction

• Requirement as a result of Senate Bill 1, passed by General Assembly on 9/9/21
• Plan addresses face mask requirements, quarantine procedures, Test to Stay program, Non-Traditional (NTI) days, and remote learning
• Edmonson County Schools has a priority of continuing in-person learning for all students in the safest manner possible.

 
Face masks inside school building

• Students must continue to wear face masks while on school buses at all times.

• All staff and students will continue to be required to wear face masks inside school buildings through October 22, 2021.  This is a result of the current high Covid-19 incidence rate for our county.  Fall Break will be October 4-8, 2021 for Edmonson County, and it is our belief that continued masking for at least two weeks afterwards is necessary.  

• On October 25, 2021, individual schools who have had a positive combined student/staff incidence rate of less than 2.5% for five (5) calendar days will be encouraged to, but not required to wear face coverings.  
• If that school’s incidence rate reaches 2.5% or above on any future date, face masks will be required for all staff and students.  When the school’s incidence rate falls below 2.5%, plus an additional five (5) calendar days, the masking of staff and students in that building will return to being optional.

 
Quarantine

• Students who are quarantined from school will continue to participate in learning through Google Classroom.  Students who do not have internet access will receive appropriate accommodations. Student absences that are a result of approved quarantines will be excused.  Parents should communicate with schools, in hopes of maximizing in-person learning for their child.  We encourage all families to contact their child principal at any time with questions or concerns.

 
Procedures

• While masking is required, any close contact (within 3 feet of a positive case for at least 15 minutes) will be notified.  They may participate in our Test to Stay program (see below) or will be asked to quarantine and monitor their symptoms.  If symptoms develop, he/she will need to work with their healthcare provider regardless of vaccination status.
• If/when masks are not being worn, any close contact (within 6 feet of a positive case for at least 15 minutes) will be notified.  They may participate in our Test to Stay program (see below) or will be asked to quarantine and monitor their symptoms.  If symptoms develop, he/she will need to work with their healthcare provider regardless of vaccination status.
• Students who are identified/quarantined as a close contact will do so for 10 days, as long they remain symptom free.  Students may return on day 8, if they test negative (rapid or PCR) either on day 5, 6, or 7.

 
 
Test to Stay Program

• At this time, Edmonson County Schools offers voluntary Covid testing in our school-based (A+ Family Health Care) health clinics.
• The Edmonson County school district has chosen not to participate in a “Test to Stay” program at this time.  This decision could change after the Kentucky Department of Health releases their test and stay guidelines.

 
Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI) Days

• Edmonson County schools are approved for 10 NTI days for the 2021-2022 school year.  NTI days will be utilized when the decision is made to close all five school buildings.  Decisions about NTI will be communicated clearly to all students, parents, staff, and community members.

 
Remote Learning Days

• The Kentucky General Assembly is providing public school districts up to 20 remote learning days to be utilized during the 2021-22 school year. These are days where a district doesn’t close all schools in the district. These days can be used when certain schools, classrooms, and/or grade levels are closed due to COVID-19. Students will utilize the Google Classroom platform to complete school work and could be asked to participate in Google Meets with teachers and classmates on designated remote learning days.