Academic year is over for in-school classes; events for seniors suspended

Clinton County students, as well as students across the state of Kentucky, received the news on Monday they had all feared was coming for the past several weeks in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Schools will remain closed for the remainder of the school year.

Following the guidelines set earlier by President Donald Trump regarding school openings, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced to the public on Monday that there would be no person-to-person instruction in Kentucky schools for the remainder of the school year, 2019-20.

In a press release issued to the Clinton County news on Monday afternoon, Beshear explained that decision to the public.

Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday advised the commonwealth’s education leaders to keep facilities closed to in-person instruction for the rest of the school year.

“Every health care professional has advised us that this is the right course of action to take,” the Governor said of the state’s continuing efforts to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).

Clinton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Tim Parson addressed the situation also on Monday afternoon in a Facebook message from the Clinton County Schools District page.

“Several of you have asked about graduation, things like prom, and we son’t cancel any of those things indefinitely,” Parsons said. “What we will do is postpone them and even if we have to wait until late, late in the summer or in the fall to do those, we want to give our seniors what is due to them.”

Parson also noted during that message that the food services providing meals to students would continue and details and schedules would be available on the school district’s Facebook page.

Gov. Beshear noted that same advice was being followed in many states, including Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee.

He said the move is in line with newly released guidelines from the White House as well as Kentucky’s own newly announced benchmarks that the Commonwealth must meet in order to start reopening the state’s economy while keeping Kentuckians safe from the novel coronavirus.

“I know for many this is hard,” the Governor said. “We have seniors that were looking forward to an in-person graduation and a prom. I’ve got a son who’s graduating from elementary school and we have every student out there who has lost this time to be able to be with their classmates and there for in-person instruction.”

He said schools were being asked to continue nontraditional instruction and food service for students in need.

“This is something I think our superintendents were expecting and were planning on,” Gov. Beshear said. “They’ve provided great leadership, and I know that they will continue.”

The Governor said he understood the disappointment many were feeling, but said it was part of the many sacrifices Kentuckians are making in the coronavirus fight.

“It’s not fair, it’s not. But a worldwide pandemic has hit us and those of you who are missing out on these opportunities, we need your help and we need your sacrifice,” he said. “Ultimately, the experience you are losing is hard, but your willingness to do it is going to help us save lives.”

School situation

urther clarified

Further information that was provided to the Clinton County News by the Clinton County Superintendent’s office came from instruction to local school administrators from the Kentucky Department of Education.

In conjunction with the governor’s announcement, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) released a plan designed to maximize instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan allows districts to continue to use the Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI) Program for the remainder of the school year and grants relief for districts as they attempt to reach the equivalent of 1,062 hours of instructional time.

“Our schools have been closed to in-person classes, but our schools have not been closed. This does provide you some certainty, though,” Interim Education Commissioner Kevin C. Brown said. “Here is something that we’re going to be able to do at the state level that I think will assist everyone.”

Education Continuation Plan

The COVID-19 Education Continuation Plan will allow districts to end the school year two weeks earlier than envisioned by Senate Bill 177, which will result in all districts ending instruction by May 29, with most districts likely to finish in mid-May. Senate Bill 177 waived student attendance requirements and provided options for districts to reach 1,062 hours by June 12.

“We want to get school finished before June 12,” Brown said.

Because NTI relies not upon seat time but upon project- and competency-based learning, districts may count all NTI days used during the 2019-2020 school year – including NTI days used before the current closure period – as seven-hour equivalent days.

Without a plan, districts have been unclear as to expectations and are on various schedules to reach the minimum 1,062 hours of instruction required by state law. Some districts are scheduled to reach 1,062 hours soon as April 24, while others would not reach that number until June 3 or later.

Exceptions are available for schools and districts that encounter extraordinary circumstances or logistical hardships, or in the event the governor determines a district can no longer use NTI for public health reasons. In those cases, the district can request assistance from the interim commissioner to determine a plan for maximizing instructional time, or the governor can waive the 1,062-hour requirement.

All 172 Kentucky school districts, 53 area technology centers, Kentucky School for the Blind and Kentucky School for the Deaf ceased in-person classes and began instituting NTI in response to a previous recommendation made by Beshear on March 13.

“While NTI fatigue is being reported across the state from students, teachers and parents, our students require continued instruction using the only operable education delivery platform available to us at this time, which is NTI,” Brown said. “Students, teachers and parents are also reporting learning success using NTI via social media. Districts maintain flexibility to amend calendars to add closure days to address the fatigue of teachers, students and parents.

“It appears that our teaching force is healthy … and NTI is better today than it was on March 16 in our districts, and it’s going to be better on May 1 than it is today.”

Beshear told the superintendents NTI is vital for reasons that go beyond continuing instruction.

“Our kids are suffering from a lot of anxiety right now, and I believe the structure that you are providing is not only giving them intellectual enrichment, I believe it helps on the emotional end,” he said.

Proms and graduations

Brown said he knows many people will be saddened by the news that school buildings will not reopen and traditional end-of-year activities will not take place as scheduled.

“I think we all anticipated that this day might come. I know this will be met with a lot of disappointment, particularly with our seniors and others who are looking forward to resuming in-person classes, but we know that’s just not possible,” he said.

Beshear said holding events such as proms and graduations in their traditional formats would not be possible even if Kentucky reaches the seven benchmarks he discussed April 17 for reaching the first phase of reopening the state spelled out in federal guidelines, because gatherings would be restricted to groups of no more than 10 people during phase one.

“When we look at our benchmarks … we’re not going to be able to have an in-person prom or graduation in a building, or even an outdoor graduation,” he said.

He recommended two options for graduation ceremonies: a virtual ceremony, which he said is the safest option, and a drive-in ceremony similar to the services being held by many churches.

“If we got people together outside of that for a graduation right now, this virus would spread,” Beshear said. “While it’s a special moment, we want to make sure it’s done in a way that is truly safe and doesn’t put people in harm’s way.”

Many schools have expressed a desire to have an in-person graduation at a later date, but the governor said there is no way to know when that might be possible.