In-person learning, or remote instruction, parents will decide in Whitley County this fall

Students in the Whitley County School District are now slated to begin learning again on Wednesday, Aug. 26, but whether they will be doing that in-person in a classroom at school or through remote instruction from home will be a decision left up to parents.

If parents opt for in-person instruction, it will take place five days a week on a normal school schedule, barring unforeseen events that is.

Students doing in-person instruction at schools that are in first grade and above will be required to wear a mask when the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines of six-foot social distancing isn’t possible. Also, masks must be worn while on the school bus.

Face shields are an option for students with health issues.

These are the high points of the 2020-2021 COVID Delay Calendar that the Whitley County Board of Education approved during its regular monthly meeting Thursday.

Superintendent John Siler noted that it was only a few weeks ago that the Kentucky Department of Education gave the go-ahead for in-person learning to take place at the start of the new school year.

“Now we can really start to bring in our teachers to train them,” Siler added.

The closing day for students under the plan is slated for May 5.

Suffice it to say, that the school district, understandably, doesn’t have all the details for COVID-19 learning worked out yet for this fall.

More information on a full re-entry plan will be provided in the coming weeks.

“Whitley County School District will follow CDC guidelines, KDE guidelines, Kentucky Department of Public Health and will be in close communication with our local health department to ensure the safety of all students and staff during the re-opening,” Siler noted in a release.

Siler said that there will be times during the school year where students can be moved from in-person learning to remote learning, and from remote learning to in-person learning.

“It is almost going to be a case-by-case basis, if there is a health issue or something like that. We are still going to get all those details worked out in the coming days. This is a pretty good starting point,” Siler added.

Thursday’s meeting took place in-person in the lobby of the Whitley County Board of Education Building Thursday. Social distancing was enforced, and masked were in use when social distancing wasn’t possible, or people were moving around.

This was the first time that the board has met in-person since February.