FRANKFORT, Ky. — While local superintendents have mentioned what school might look like in the fall, the Kentucky Department of Education met to discuss what is in store for classrooms next school year.
The department is advising school boards to come up with several plans for what the 2020-21 school year may look like, including later starts to the year or continuing with traditional classes.
The main concern for the department includes figuring out how to properly re-enter students who have learning gaps and how to deal with the mental health effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
"We are going to have to assess our students and figure out where exactly their learning needs are because there may be needs for remediation and intervention," Dr. Kelly Foster said during the meeting.
Re-entry and the future of what classrooms will look like are also contingent on the funding coming to districts. Schools will have extra cash coming from three different areas: roughly $1.73 billion from the CARES Act, about $43.8 million from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER), and $193 million from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER).
The types of services schools will need to supply will also have to be considered in the funding.
There is no deadline on when the Kentucky Department of Education will share their proposal with Gov. Andy Beshear on how they see the reopening happening.
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