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Edmonson County Schools Ready for Jan. 4 Virtual Only and Hybrid the Next Week

Edmonson County Schools

Students in Kentucky, and across the nation, are riding a roller coaster of in-person and virtual learning created by the pandemic.

The superintendent of Edmonson County Schools said his district is ready for the Jan. 4 reopening and changes scheduled to happen one week after that.

Edmonson County students will begin school on Jan. 4 with all remote instruction.  

That’s in line with the governor’s recommendation in case of a spike in COVID-19  cases after the holidays.  

Starting Jan.11, the district will return to the staggered schedule of in-person classes two days a week, for those who choose to be at school, and virtual learning  the other days. 

Edmonson County Superintendent Brian Alexander said the district’s small population of 1,800 students spread across five buildings makes social distancing relatively easy.

“Of those 1,800 students, about 30 percent of those students, about 600 of them, are virtual learners, which only leaves about 1,200 students for in-person learning, " said Alexander. "We split them up to where we only have 600 students in our schools per day.”

Each student has their temperature checked every morning,  hallways are divided so students walk in one direction, hand sanitizers are available throughout the schools, and sanitizing in the buildings is done all day long. 

One of district’s safety precautions is having Edmonson County school bus drivers check each student’s temperature with a no-touch thermometer as they board the bus.  

Alexander said the decisions made to balance student learning along with COVID-19 health considerations create an unprecedented situation for education leaders.

“I would strongly urge everyone to have compassion and understanding for us as we make decisions." said Alexander. "We put a great deal of thought and concern into making those decisions and we want to make sure those decisions are sound and in the best interests of everyone.”

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