After previously making plans to return to in-person instruction beginning Monday, local religious private schools are reversing course and remaining virtual because of Sunday morning’s court ruling.
Officials with Owensboro Catholic, St. Mary of the Woods, Trinity High, and Heritage Christian schools all confirmed Sunday afternoon they’d continue with virtual learning but will continue to follow the legal case closely.
A federal appellate court on Sunday morning sided with Gov. Andy Beshear, upholding his decision to suspend in-person learning at all public and private schools across the state. More about that decision can be found here.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Cameron and Danville Christian Academy filed a lawsuit against Beshear asking the court to issue a statewide temporary restraining order against the governor’s restriction regarding in-person instruction at religious schools.
Heritage Christian School — which was one of several Kentucky schools that filed amicus briefs in support of the lawsuit — planned to return Monday in full but will revert to distance learning.
“As of now we plan to go to NTI,” said Tim Hoak, the administrator at Heritage Christian. “We are very disappointed with the ruling and are hopeful that there may yet be another avenue for appeal.”
Owensboro Catholic Schools planned to allow students in grades K-6 to return Monday, with students in grades 7-12 returning as early as Dec. 7.
Schools in Whitesville planned to return in similar phases. Students at St. Mary of the Woods School (grades K-8) were set to return Monday, while officials were hopeful students at Trinity High School (grades 9-12) could return Dec. 7.
David Kessler, Superintendent for the Diocese of Owensboro, echoed Hoak’s comments.
“We are disappointed because this decision contradicts the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and our own school data,” Kessler said. “We will be carefully monitoring the legal proceedings and continue our discussions with our legal counsel and the Catholic Conference of KY to determine our future actions.”
A statement to OCS families reads, in part:
We are of course very disappointed in this decision, and will continue to look at every opportunity to return to in person learning just as quickly as possible. Here is what this means for our OC families for the week of November 30
— Students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade will begin targeted instruction, as per the material emailed to parents.
— Students in grades 4 through 12 will have virtual instruction.
A statement to St. Mary and Trinity families reads, in part:
With this recent action, we have to return back to our NTI virtual learning plan for our schools. If our county is out of the red, our elementary will be able to return on Dec. 7 and our middle and high school may return on Jan. 4. This legal case will continue in the courts and we will be carefully monitoring the legal proceedings. We will keep you updated as we learn more.
According to Beshear’s initial executive order on Nov. 18, public and private schools had to cease in-person learning beginning Nov. 23. Middle and high schools are to remain in remote instruction until Jan. 4. Elementary schools may reopen Dec. 7 if their county is not in the red zone and the school follows all Healthy at Schools guidance.
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