School System Seeks Public Feedback On New School Year: Governor's New Guidelines Create New Environment

Drastic Changes Expected For Next School Year

Clip from Guidance on Safety Expectations and Best Practices for Kentucky Schools

Darren Doyle, story:
No matter the measures taken, the upcoming school year for Edmonson County Schools will be like none ever seen. With new requirements handed down to schools across the state by the Governor's office, the 2020-21 school year will undergo drastic changes.

There will be very specific social distancing and/or mask requirements in schools and school buses, and you can expect a different look on basically every aspect of activity inside local schools.

Superintendent Brian Alexander is requesting that all parents of Edmonson County students participate in a survey to help school officials decide what will work best of all students and staff.

Some of the topics covered and questions asked in the survey cover the following:

• Preference of 5 days of in-person instruction with masks worn all the time or staggered classes of 2 days at school-3 days of in-home instruction, due to social distancing requirements
• Childcare situations for those that prefer staggered options
• School start dates on August 5th as normal, or on September 8th with no Fall Break--with the addition of 25 mins added to each school day--end of of school year would be sometime mid-May

Some of the state requirements for the new year include:

• Stagger arrival and dismissal times.
• Increase space between students by rearranging seating to maximize space between students to be 6 feet or greater.
• If the physical space in the school does not allow for spacing students’ desks 6 feet apart, space desks as far away as possible and require masks at all times in that classroom for students and staff. All desks should be arranged so students seats face the same direction.
• Model creating space between students/staff and avoid unnecessary contact or movement within the personal space of 6 feet.
• Place markings on floor as a reminder of areas that are 6 feet apart for instruction.
• Maintain a social distance of 6 feet in hallways during arrival and dismissal.
• Maintain a social distance of 6 feet in common areas such as bathrooms or create barriers between sinks/stalls.
• Students who are enrolled in first grade and above and staff should be required to wear a cloth face covering, unless medically waivered.
• Masks can be lowered during classroom time if all students and staff are seated 6 feet apart and no persons are walking around inside the classroom.
• Use CDC guidance to inform students, staff and families of proper wearing of a face covering. https://www.cdc. gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/ downloads/cloth-facecovering.pdf
• Face masks/shields must be worn by bus drivers if they do not interfere with the health and safety of the driver.
• Cloth masks for all staff and students on bus (exceptions for special needs students) if 6 feet social distancing is impractical on the school bus.
• When students are outside and 6 feet from others, masks are not required

These guidelines are from only 2 of a 24-page document released by the Governor's Office. You can read the entire document here.

The letter from Mr. Alexander is published in its entirety below:

June 25, 2020
 
To the staff, students and parents of the Edmonson County School District Community -- 
 
First of all, thank you for your cooperation since mid-March in dealing with the most significant health crisis of our lifetimes.  What we have lived through together has been unprecedented in the history of public education, and through this time we have been able to continue to help students learn.
 
I'd also like to thank you for your patience.  Yesterday, on June 24, 2020, at 3:00 pm Governor Beshear released his plan for reopening schools during his afternoon press conference.  The link to this press conference is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbDFFUIcNDA .  The section of the press conference dedicated to reopening schools is between 19:15 and 46:20 in the video.  Additionally, the "Guidance on Safety Expectations and Best Practices for Kentucky Schools (K-12)" document was released following the press conference.  The link to this document is https://education.ky.gov/comm/Documents/Safety%20Expectations_FINAL%20DOC.pdf.  I'd like to encourage you to review these documents in order to better understand what is expected of our schools as we work toward making decisions that lead to reopening schools.
 
We have purposely waited until now to release two surveys for Edmonson County Schools.  One survey is a staff survey, while the other survey is a parent survey.  The staff survey has been release to all school personnel through school email.  As a school district, we are now at the point where our stakeholders can give accurate answers and we can collect accurate data that will help to guide the decisions for Edmonson County Schools.
 
There are several points to keep in mind as we work together in this reopening phase.  Please understand that:

• Edmonson County, and the school district, have set a precedent of making every effort to follow the guidelines set forth by our state government and leaders and will continue to do so.
• Your voice matters.  We hope for 100% cooperation so all students are represented.  The leadership teams of our schools, our Central office staff and the members of the Board of Education are interested in what you have to say.  
• We are making every effort to understand the needs of every student of the school district. Options for one household may not be an option for another household.  We hope to offer flexibility to families moving forward while meeting the safety guidelines set before us.  
• Our goal is to make the school experience for all the students of the Edmonson County meaningful and positive.  

Thank you for your time; and again, please take the time to view the links shared above.
 
The link to the Parent survey is: https://bit.ly/2BBvkSo
 
Sincerely,
Brian Alexander