education

COVID-19 has caused many parents in Kentucky to lose their jobs or have their work hours cut back. The financial impact of the pandemic is adding homelessness to the challenge of virtual learning for some Owensboro students. 

Owensboro Innovation Middle School Youth Service Coordinator Amanda Hirtz said she’s working with three families who have suffered job losses during the pandemic, causing them to become homeless between March and August. 

Hirtz said students and families felt comfortable asking for help during these difficult times.

As COVID-19 continues to increase across Kentucky, the state K-12 dashboard asks schools to self-report student and staff cases, as well as the number quarantined.

The online resource shows that nearly 2,000 Kentucky students are currently in quarantine. 

The K-12 COVID-19 Dashboard weekly update also shows new cases statewide include 393 students and 189 staff. 

As for those in quarantine, the weekly update shows 1,976 students and 347 staff.  

The Kentucky Department for Public Health has launched a new interactive dashboard for cases of COVID-19 in grades K-12.

The site went live the week of Sept. 28 and schools are expected to self-report data about the virus.

State health officials want each school to update their information daily, including new COVID-19 cases among students and staff, as well as the number of students and staff in quarantine.

For example, as of Oct. 1, Greenwood High School in Warren County reported new cases among seven students and one staff member. 

Tennessee’s colleges of applied technology are getting some outside help to address education inequity. That’s thanks in part to the Tennessee Board of Regents expanding an existing community college partnership with national nonprofit Achieving the Dream.

“During such a challenging time, it’s more important than ever to meet uncertainty with resilience, innovation, and a deepened commitment to student success and equity,” says Karen A. Stout, president and CEO of Achieving the Dream.

Warren County Public schools will continue with a hybrid schedule of classes through the end of the calendar year. 

The decision is based, in part, on the state’s new system that tracks the number of coronavirus cases in K-12 schools. 

Under the state’s new metric for reopening schools to in-person classes, Warren County is in the Red category, meaning a daily rate of 25 individuals per 100,000 have a confirmed case of COVID-19. 

Gov. Andy Beshear is recommending any county in the Red category postpone all in-person learning until it reaches Yellow status, meaning less than ten confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 individuals. 

A case of COVID-19 has sent some Logan County students back to virtual learning. 

The three second-grade classes at Auburn Elementary have moved back to virtual learning for two weeks after a school employee tested positive for COVID-19. 

The News-Democrat and Leader reports the last day the employee attended work was Thursday, Sept. 10. Parents were notified of the positive case on Sunday, and second-graders returned to virtual learning on Monday.

Those students are expected to begin in-person classes again on Monday, Sept. 28. 

The Somerset Independent School District is moving forward with plans to begin in-person classes for K-12 students on Sept. 8. 

Somerset schools will operate on a “purple-gold model”, with students showing up on a rotating schedule for the in-person classes.

The Commonwealth Journal reports the “purple” group will include students whose family name begins with the letters A-J.  Students in that group will attend Tuesdays and Thursdays. They will be the first ones to start the in-person classes next Tuesday, because there are no classes on Monday, Sept. 7, which is Labor Day.

The “gold” group consists of students whose family name starts with K-Z. They will be in class on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Tina Ryan knows the hallways of East Calloway Elementary better than most. Besides working as a school nurse here for 20 years, Ryan, who is 55, was also a student here herself. 

“I’m probably one of the older ones here as far as staff and things. Or maybe the oldest one here,” she said with a laugh. “I was happy to know I was coming to East Elementary when I got the job. Because I was an alumni here.”

A pencil-shaped sign that reads “Nurse’s Office” hangs in the hallway next to her door, with all the classic supplies of a veteran nurse inside: tongue depressors, a blood pressure cuff, itch cream — “bug bites all the time” — and loads of bandages and band-aids.

As colleges across Kentucky and the nation are back underway with in-person classes, students, parents and employees have multiple ways to get updates on COVID-19 cases on campus.

Technology has encouraged transparency in the time of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Kentucky Department for Public Health online dashboard lists COVID-19 cases at colleges and universities across the state. The cases listed as of Aug. 27 include 550 students and 42 staff. 

Western Kentucky University reported 86 new cases in its weekly update posted Aug. 28 on its online dashboard. The total number of cases at the university since July 1 is 299, including students, faculty, staff and on-campus contractors.

Monday marked the first day of the fall semester at Western Kentucky University.

Like schools across the country, COVID-19 safety precautions and restrictions are in place, and WKU students have been given choices on attending classes in-person, or studying remotely.

Just ahead of the start of the semester, WKU President Timothy Caboni spoke to WKU Public Radio about the school’s approach to conducting the elements of higher education amid a pandemic.