A week after announcing that masks would be encouraged but not required for employees and students of Christian County Public Schools, a district spokesman said on Monday that teachers and staff are now required to wear masks at work.
“Due to an uptick in COVID cases in Christian County, CCPS teachers and staff are required to wear masks while at school or work until further notice,” spokesman John Rittenhouse said.
There is still no requirement for students to wear masks when they return to schools on Aug. 11. Superintendent Chris Bentzel said last week that the district will leave it to parents to decide if their students wear a mask at school. Prior to Bentzel saying the district would not require students to wear masks, Gov. Andy Beshear said he wanted schools to require masks. However, the governor has not issued a state mandate for schools.
In a related announcement, the district has scheduled a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for students, parents and community members from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5, in the Lyle Dunbar Gym at Christian County High School.
An appointment must be made in advance by registering online.
Wild Health will administer the Pfizer vaccine, which is approved for children 12 and older. A parental consent form must be completed for children 17 and younger.
There’s no charge for the vaccine. Additional information about the clinic is available by calling the school district’s health director, Megan Kidd, at 270-887-7000.
In a news conference Monday, Beshear said Kentuckians who have already been vaccinated could help the state boost its vaccine rate by talking to those who have put off getting a shot or said they don’t plan to do it at all.
“I need every single Kentuckian who’s gotten vaccinated … to talk to somebody who hasn’t because your friends, your loved ones are more at risk than they have ever been,” Kentucky Health News reported Beshear saying. “So if you haven’t had that tough conversation yet, and I get why you might not have, I really need you to now because you might be the only person that they trust, that they will listen to. And you might be the only person that can break through and get them that protection.”
Christian County has the second worst vaccination rate in Kentucky — at 23% for all residents.
In its most recent coronavirus report, on Thursday, the Christian County Health Department reported 78 new coronavirus cases — the most weekly cases confirmed since April. The spike follows a surge in new cases nationwide and across Kentucky, driven by the highly contagious delta variant.
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.
