Superintendent Chris Bentzel appears ready to get students back into Christian County Public Schools soon after the Labor Day holiday.
(Facebook screenshot)
In a video posted to the school district’s Facebook page, Bentzel encouraged parents, students and staff members to watch a live stream of the Board of Education meeting, at 6 p.m. Thursday, when board members will discuss and possibly approve a revised 2020-21 school reopening plan.
“We will present the current status of school, our current COVID data and look at the possibility of returning to in-person instruction in the very near future,” Bentzel said in the video.
The board’s decision could speed up the district’s plan for in-person instruction. At an Aug. 12 meeting, the board voted to begin the school year Aug. 27 with online instruction and to delay opening up classrooms until at least Sept. 28. Gov. Andy Beshear had requested schools wait until at least that date to open schools to avoid further spreading the novel coronavirus.
At that meeting, Bentzel acknowledged his disappointment in the delay. Although the governor did not mandate when schools could open to in-person instruction, state education officials warned local districts to not ignore the request.
An early return to in-person instruction would come on the heels of a federal report that lists Christian County among 14 Kentucky counties in the White House Coronavirus Task Force report’s “red zone,” which are counties where the virus numbered more than one per 1,000 residents and the share of residents who tested positive during the week was over 10%.
Virtual Learning Academy deadline
Bentzel said this week that the new re-entry plan will give parents one more opportunity to enroll in the Virtual Learning Academy, which is already up and running, if they do not want their children in a classroom. Parents have until 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, to choose VLA. Enrollment can be requested through the district website.
Elementary school students who return in-person will be in class five days a week. But middle and high school students will follow a hybrid plan — in class two days a week and using non-traditional home instruction three days a week.
“As we begin looking at transitioning back to school in-person for our students and staff, it is critical that we always give our families and students a choice,” Bentzel said.
But he stressed that enrollment for VLA will not be offered again after this week.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
