Schools in Kentucky’s Red Zone counties can resume some form of in-person instruction starting Jan. 4, though the recommendation is to use an “aggressive” hybrid model or to wait altogether until Jan. 11. Gov. Andy Beshear gave an overview of the new recommendations for schools Monday, saying an executive order with more details is expected later this week.
The main announcement was that schools in the Red Zone of the state’s incidence rate map can return to the classroom as early as Jan. 4, though the details of exactly what that can look like are not finalized.
Beshear said the more aggressive hybrid model is going to be at the discretion of the school district, but it’s asking them to think and take extra steps.
“Starting Jan. 4, there can be in-person instruction in Red counties, but our recommendation is that it is done through a more aggressive hybrid model than would be used in Orange, whereby we continue to decrease the number of individuals that are going to be in a school building at any point in time,” Beshear said. “We are still collecting some suggestions. We are still finalizing the language. But we want to give everybody a head start in thinking through how to make this work, but also how to do it safely.”
However, the Kentucky Department for Public Health and the Kentucky Department of Education are recommending schools not return to in-person learning at all waiting until Jan. 11. The recommendation to wait comes from the desire to have 14 days — the cycle for the virus — between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and the return to the classroom.
Beshear also announced Monday that every school must provide meaningful virtual options that cannot negatively impact students’ GPA, class rank, ability to take advanced placement classes, or any other educational opportunity or recognition. He also said schools must accommodate all educators who fall into a high-risk category with virtual options.
The state’s Healthy at School guidelines will become mandatory starting Jan. 4. Schools must continue to report case and quarantine numbers so they are accessible through the state’s public dashboard.
Daviess County moved back into the Red Zone of Kentucky’s COVID-19 incidence rate on Nov. 5, and it has remained there since. Red Zone counties are those with a rolling seven-day average of 25 or more daily cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents.
As of Monday afternoon, Daviess County’s rate was 62.3. Fulton and Owsley counties were the only two of Kentucky’s 120 counties not in the Red Zone.
According to Beshear’s initial order on Nov. 18, public and private schools had to cease in-person learning beginning Nov. 23. Middle and high schools were to remain in remote instruction until Jan. 4. Elementary schools could reopen Dec. 7 if their county is not in the Red Zone and the school follows all Healthy at Schools guidance.
Though the order applies to all public and private religious K-12 schools in the state, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Danville Christian Academy filed a lawsuit on Nov. 20 arguing that a religious education is protected by the First Amendment — meaning they should be exempt from the order.
On Nov. 25, U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove ruled in favor of Cameron and issued a statewide preliminary injunction against Besehar’s order. Beshear appealed to, and a three-judge panel issued a stay of the order on Nov. 29.
On Nov. 29, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit sided with Beshear and issued a stay of his order, overturning Tatenhove’s ruling — meaning the three-judge panel upheld Beshear’s decision to suspend in-person learning at all public and private schools across the state.
On Dec. 2, Cameron filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court, asking them to reinstate the ruling by the federal district court judge that would stop the enforcement of Beshear’s order suspending in-person instruction at Kentucky’s private religious schools.
A total of 73 more cases of COVID-19 and 100 recoveries were announced Monday for the Green River District, including 30 cases and 48 recoveries in Daviess County. The numbers reflect a two-day reporting period.
Beshear announced 1,802 new cases of COVID-19 and 17 deaths in Kentucky, bringing the state’s total to 224,890 cases and 2,224 deaths.
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