The Christian County Board of Education on Thursday voted 4-to-1 to return to in-person instruction on Jan. 6, five days before the governor’s recommended re-entry date of Jan. 11.
For the first eight days after the district returns, middle and high schoolers will learn under an “aggressive advisory hybrid” plan, which aims to provide students with more structure and support while reducing capacity in school facilities as much as possible.
The plan also is structured to comply with a state recommendation to implement an aggressive hybrid model in red zone counties. Students will receive remote instruction in the classroom, using computers that have been provided by the school, while also having supplemental in-person staff contact.
“Basically, it would look like an in-school NTI,” Assistant Superintendent of Administration Laura Morris explained Thursday to board members. “However, students would have access to content-level teachers within the school building throughout the day.
“With our teachers in place, if a child starts to struggle or have a problem, we’ll know that so there’s not that delay or gap in time in getting the child the help they need. Plus, we’re monitoring at the same time to make sure assignments are being completed,” she said.
Under the plan, the district will utilize all possible space, including its Gateway Academy to Innovation and Technology campus, to reduce capacity and keep students socially distanced. Additional capacity is made possible by the fact that approximately 25% of the district’s students are enrolled in the Virtual Learning Academy, which will continue to be an option.
“We’re in a position, because we have two Gateway buildings — a lot of districts might not have that same opportunity — to limit our capacity on a day-to-day basis to 50% to 60%, and that’s a really aggressive model,” Superintendent Chris Bentzel told Hoptown Chronicle.
“We’re going to look at every class, every period on our schedule and do the best we can do spread kids out, wear masks, be six feet [apart], so we can be in-person five days a week — not rotating them between at home and at school.”
Under the advisory hybrid plan, teachers will rotate between virtual instruction and visiting classrooms throughout the day to better address student needs. When teachers aren’t instructing remotely, virtual classes will be monitored by on-site support staff.
After eight days, on Jan. 18, Bentzel said he hopes the students will be able to start rotating classes and following a more traditional, seven-period schedule.
Prior to shifting to remote instruction on Nov. 20, following Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive order, middle and high school students were learning on a hybrid model that rotated between in-person learning and virtual, at-home instruction.
‘We need to operate with a sense of urgency’
At Thursday’s meeting, Bentzel stressed the importance of getting students back in the classroom as the end of the year approached.
“NTI is, understandably, not the best method,” he said. “And we lost a lot [of students] to the hybrid model, either through work, disengagement, or just not having the mentality to show up and do the work on the off days. It served its purpose to get our students back at school, but we want to get our students back safely to full-time, in-person.
“I think another reason for this move is our failure rates. I feel they are larger than they need to be — close to 300 in both high schools. We’ve got to engage, bring back, motivate and get our students back on track.”
Typically, there are about 100 students failing at each high school, district spokesman John Rittenhouse confirmed.
“I think it’s also safe to say that [we] need to operate with a sense of urgency looking at our second semester calendar,” Bentzel said Thursday. “There are 92 school days left to get our seniors ready for graduation, to get our students ready to transition to the next grade.”
Bentzel noted that March 13 will mark one year since COVID-19 first shut down schools.
Board member Tom Bell was the lone nay vote on returning to in-person instruction on Jan. 6.
“I just think we need to implement starting the 11th and give our cadre time,” Bell said. “I think two days is not enough — that’s just me personally — and it’s too close to Jan. 1st.”
New state guidance
Under Beshear’s Nov. 20 executive order, schools have the option to return on Jan. 4. However, Beshear has recommended that districts wait until Jan. 11 before returning to in-person instruction.
On Monday, the governor outlined preliminary guidance and mandates for schools. The major change is that once a county reaches the red rate of community transmission — an incidence rate of 25 or more — the state recommends considering remote learning or aggressively implementing a hybrid model of learning that decreases the volume of individuals inside any school facility.
“If we can decrease that number — almost like capacity when we look at other businesses — it’s safer and it’s easier to get six feet in between individuals,” Beshear said Monday during his daily briefing.
Schools also must accommodate staff members who are in high-risk categories for contracting COVID-19 and must provide equal academic access to students who are in virtual instruction, the governor announced. An example of equal access would be teaching Advanced Placement courses both in-person and through virtual instruction. Bentzel said the local district can meet those requirements.
Preparing for a vaccine
The school board on Thursday also voted to not mandate a COVID-19 vaccination for staff members, given its temporary emergency approval, although Bentzel said it would be “strongly encouraged.” He said he planned to get the vaccine.
“We’ve got to take pride in [the fact] that we’re being prioritized in this whole vaccination process,” Bentzel told Hoptown Chronicle. “That’s a big deal, in my opinion. I think it’s very important that people understand that [it’s] doctors, emergency room workers, nurses, long term care — then it’s us. That’s an incredibly big deal. And so you can’t just say, ‘Nope, I’m not interested. You have to think about the decision and make a really rational decision because that [opportunity] doesn’t come around all the time.
At the request of state and local health officials, the district recently polled its staff and asked “If a vaccination would be available to teachers on the third wave, would you take it? Initially, 31% of 1,200 respondents said they would, Bentzel confirmed.
The district is in the process of running a second poll, with a message encouraging educators to reserve their dose and reminding them that if they have a change of heart, their dose will be circulated back into general usage. Bentzel said Friday morning that more than 50% of district staff had signed up to reserve their dose.
School employees who interact with students must sign up to get the vaccine before the end of the year in order to be eligible when it is first available to educators. Otherwise, they will have to wait until distribution is being made to the general public.
“They can come off that list if they change their minds, but if they don’t get on that Dec. 30 list, they’re going to be later in the process for it to even be available,” said Jack Lackey, the attorney for the Christian County Board of Education.
At Thursday’s meeting, board members also voted to rescind 10 of the 20 days of allotted COVID-19 leave if the vaccination is reasonably available by March 1. The 10 extra days of COVID-19 leave was allotted by the school board earlier this year. The motion passed 4-to-1, with Bell opposing.
Julia Hunter is the engagement editor for Hoptown Chronicle. Reach her at julia@hoptownchronicle.org.
