BOONE COUNTY, Ky. — After learning virtually for the first few months of the school year, Boone County Schools are back to in-person learning for four days a week despite the rising COVID-19 case numbers.
The district initially planned to move to a fully in-person model on Oct. 29 but postponed, citing rising COVID-19 metrics in the county.
This comes after Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced on Sunday the highest weekly case total of COVID-19 cases, with the Commonwealth seeing 1,177 new cases and four deaths.
The Kentucky Department of Public Health recommends districts in counties with more than 25 new cases per 100,000 people move to fully virtual schooling, and as of Monday, the cases in Boone County are about 37.5 new cases per 100,000 people.
Boone County Schools Superintendent Matthew Turner sent out a letter to parents which said students would resume in-person learning four days of the week despite the rising COVID-19 case numbers.
"While this increase in cases and reaching 25 new cases per 100K people in Boone County is cause for concern in our community and in our schools, we must move beyond the absolutism of case numbers and test positivity, and we must prioritize the education and well-being of our students," the letter from Turner reads.
Some parents are feeling relieved, though, that their children are going back to the classroom, even with the rising case numbers.
"It’s a great step forward," Jodie Collins said. "I have to go to work every day. Parents are going to work, and when they’re not able to be with their children they’re already sending their child to their grandparents."
Turner said that if the school district needs to, they will close certain classrooms, grade levels at specific schools or a cluster of schools, but he wants to avoid closing all the schools in the district.
