CARROLLTON, Ky. — Kentucky schools have been in session for less than a month and many have already had to close or move to virtual learning due to COVID cases.
Both the Carroll County School District and Spencer County Schools have already made that difficult decision.
Carroll County Schools already had to cancel classes Aug. 26 and 27 due to COVID - those days will be made up at the end of the year. This week, the district canceled classes at Carroll County High School Wednesday, Thursday and Friday due to staffing shortages after fifteen of the school’s 37 teachers either tested positive, had to quarantine, or would be otherwise absent.
“When we come to a situation to where we have issues at one particular school, I would rather address that one particular school and allow our students at the other schools to remain in person if at all possible,” Superintendent Danny Osborne said.
It’s not just positive cases that are forcing districts like Carroll County to cancel school – it’s the lack of substitutes to fill positions.
“When you look at the COVID scenarios and you look at the issues with covering routes and classes, we just felt it was the best decision to make at this point,” Spencer County Acting Superintendent Chuck Abell said.
Spencer County also made the decision to close schools on Thursday this week. Friday was already a professional development day, and school is off for Labor Day on Monday.
Neither Spencer nor Carroll County has used any of its 10 allotted NTI days.
“If this had been a multiple-day type situation where we were looking at two or three days, we probably would have considered NTI,” Abell said.
NTI takes a lot of preparation for teachers, and Abell said the district is using this long weekend to reset.
In Carroll County, Osborne is asking anyone in the community who is interested to apply to work as a substitute.
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