Changes to the February school calendar to accommodate the second dose of vaccinations will be communicated later this week. These days are: make-up days, non-traditional instruction days (“NTI”), and Offline Learning Days. We know this is a stressful time for everyone but we remain committed to providing the best possible educational experience for your child in these unusual circumstances. Thank you for your continued flexibility. The Oldham County Board of Education has approved the creation of an A/B schedule for middle and high schools. The finalized Athletic Guidance Document for reopening athletics was presented to and approved by our district nurse, Lisa Burgess, Superintendent Schultz, and the Oldham County Health Department. Presentations to the Board are expected to be courteous, civil and respectful. The Board will meet Monday, August 3 at 4:30 p.m. at the Arvin Education Center. Emails must contain your name, address and phone number. Elementary students and preschool students would return on a regular schedule. Tax Rate Hearing Oldham County Public Library. The Board reserves the right to limit or terminate discussion on any subject introduced by an individual or group in order to maintain order. I would like to give you an update on the rest of the calendar year and share a couple of reminders. “They need to know they have an ally in the classroom, and when they feel safe, you can push and challenge them even more.”. Although both I and members of the Board may not like the recommendation, it is not wise or prudent to ignore the recommendation. Our hybrid model of both synchronous and asynchronous instruction affords students time each day to build relationships with classmates and teachers through face-to-face interactions as well as the flexibility to work at their own pace throughout the day and/or revisit material independently or with a family member or support staff if extra support is needed. This new way of learning comes with new, unanticipated costs. While we hope traditional learning will continue as usual, we continue to monitor and plan for the potential impact that COVID-19 could have on schools in the coming days. Wednesday, August 19 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM During this period of increased community spread, we ask that you follow Covid-19 guidelines such as limiting social gatherings, staying home when ill, quarantining if exposed to a person who tests positive, and wearing facial coverings when out in the community. It is our hope that as Public Health and the Kentucky Department of Education monitors the COVID-19 situation over the summer, recommendations will be revised to allow for a return to face-to-face instruction in which everyone is safe and a healthy environment is maintained. Our success in the fall was not based on what others did, but on what was best for our community and school system. Friday, February 12 will become a B day for middle and high students. 7. Today, Governor Andy Beshear, in a conference call with Kentucky superintendents, requested that we continue to keep schools closed through Friday, April 17. A/B placements are out for middle and high students. Those districts are either already 1:1 with technology, or relying on packet work to review concepts learned earlier in the year. Now that we have worked through the first half of the first COVID shot clinics, we realize there is a high likelihood we will need to make changes to next month’s calendar in order to administer the second dose of vaccines. This includes any after school activities or sports. We still ask that you call the school if your child tests positive for COVID-19 or is placed in quarantine. I believe under normal circumstances we all would agree that face-to-face instruction is the best possible scenario for students, teachers, and parents. In short, it was an experiment that did not fulfill the educational experience our students deserve. Regular season games will be suspended for OCS athletics, but practices can continue. CHANGE TO FEEDING SITES FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 4, 2021. But for the staff of OCS, the spirit remains the same. I feel compelled, for the health of our community, to follow this request and close OCS schools. However, this continues to be a fluid situation and that date could change. It was a great first day back to school in-person for elementary. Over the past 5 weeks, countless hours have been spent reviewing and developing plans for every area of school operations. NTI tends to be more effective with older students because they are more independent learners and have the ability to work for longer stretches of time without parental supervision. When we find it necessary to call off in-person school for the day, there are three scenarios that are possible: Snow Day/inclement weather day: On these days when we have snow or ice that prevent OCS from holding in-person school, school will be cancelled for both in-person and VLA. Oldham County has grown and improved its implementation of NTI through the three rounds completed since March 2020. When we are allowed to resume in-person instruction, we will return under the A/B format for middle and high schools and the regular schedule for elementary schools. As a reminder, VLA students will remain on their VLA schedule during this time. February’s Teacher Work Day has been moved from Friday, February 12 to Friday, February 19. More information regarding NTI will be provided by your child’s school. Click here to learn more. The Oldham County Health Department continues to report a manageable number of positive Covid19 cases in the county. Students will be given assignments to complete on the days they are not attending school in-person, which will be collected on the next in-person attendance day. At this time it is anticipated that the Virtual Learning Academy will be available for the entire 2020-2021 school year. We will continually monitor and reevaluate circumstances during the four weeks of A/B instruction, to decide the following four weeks schedule. The formation of the Virtual Learning Academy has helped accomplish this goal within the elementary schools in the district, but I continue to have concerns about class sizes in our middle and high schools. Teachers will also work with students this week to ensure they know what’s expected of them during this Friday’s Offline Learning Day. El período de inscripción para el Trimestre 2 ya está abierto. We understand some may be waiting to see if the district starts in Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI) before deciding whether or not to enroll. Our Administrative Illness Response team is meeting regularly and taking guidance from the Oldham County Health Department (OCHD) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). You may be seeing on the news that some local districts are pushing back the start of school and are wondering if OCS will follow suit. Reminder: This is only for middle school and high school. In November the district sent an email to parents describing the three types of days that could be utilized in the event of inclement weather. Of course, if the environment of the pandemic in our area changes between now and then, that could change, but we continue to press on with that August 12 date. During the week of November 30, our staff, in conjunction with the Oldham County Health Department, will reevaluate the county and school Covid-19 numbers. Meals for VLA students will continue to be offered for pick up at La Grange Elementary and Crestwood Elementary from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. At times, there are no good answers for all of these elements when we look at each option. If you are interested in becoming a substitute teacher for OCS, please visit https://www.oldham.kyschools.us/Content2/employment-opportunities  to view the requirements for becoming a substitute teacher, or apply at https://www.applitrack.com/oldham/onlineapp/. We are pleased there has been a decrease in our community spread numbers over the past several days. Our staff has worked tirelessly to make NTI a robust learning experience and we hope your students are ready to jump in with the eagerness and enthusiasm our staff has as we forge ahead into the new school year. Thank you for being patient with us as we worked to find a way to provide our class of 2020 a dignified celebration of their accomplishments. Wednesday, August 19 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Clark County. That decision and communication will be made on December 9 or 10. This partnership is designed to provide quicker notifications for quarantines and help curb further spread of the virus. The calendar adjustment also maximizes the number of in-person instructional days in February. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. The VLA is a temporary solution to the obstacles to in-person learning associated with the current global pandemic. Oldham County Schools will continue to provide free breakfast and lunch during periods of NTI. Current recommendations, which require more restrictions than school operations as we know it, will make this a challenge. When students and staff return to in-person instruction, it is our goal to remain in-person for an extended period of time. Students in the “A” group will attend in-person school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during week one, and Monday and Wednesday during week 2. At this time, we plan to continue to operate preschool and elementary schools on the normal schedule and middle and high schools will resume the A/B schedule on the 11th. The second will be to approve a temporary policy mandating wearing face coverings for all staff and students (1st through 12th grade) when social distancing cannot be maintained, unless there is a medical condition or disability that would prevent them from wearing a face covering. That said, we do want to make sure that we are prepared in the event of a cancellation. Friday, January 29 will be an Offline Learning Day, similar to Friday, January 22, in order to complete teacher and staff vaccinations. Please check this page regularly, as it will be added to and updated frequently. This means we will utilize make-up days for inclement weather going forward. The novel coronavirus, whether you believe it is a serious pandemic or not, is here in our community, and it is forcing us to make decisions that we would not typically make. Meals are only provided for days that school is in session. For this reason, we did not attempt another Offline Learning Day for subsequent snow days. Public expression will be allowed, after a presentation by the OCS Reopening Committee. The Oldham County Health Department is in daily communication with the Kentucky Department for Public Health, who is carefully assessing the situation as it evolves. A task force, including Athletic Directors, the Assistant Superintendent for Support Services, the Secondary Level Director, and a few high school principals crafted the reopening plan using the guidelines set forth by KHSAA and Public Health. The support and rigor of NTI works best when teachers and students remain connected via technology. As we look at reopening in person following the holiday break, we will continue following that process. District personnel will then contact those persons to notify them of the exposure, and identify the date on which the student or staff member may safely return to school. It’s important to note that we have no plans to cancel school at this time, but as you know, this is a fluid and rapidly changing situation. We are waiting for a schedule from the health department on when these shots can be administered. We have been in close contact with the Oldham County Health Department throughout the fall and are currently working with the OCHD on our plans to resume in-person instruction. As we know, this remains a fluid situation and we will continually review not only the community spread numbers, but our ability to operate school in a safe manner. When the school district receives a report of a positive COVID-19 test result for an employee or student, our trained staff members will gather information from teachers and principals to determine which coworkers or classmates were in close contact with the positive case. At the time it was adopted, many educators viewed it as a calendar consideration, not a learning consideration. Please take the time to complete and submit once that reaches you. However, the logistics of school-to-school Chromebook sharing makes it challenging to quickly (within a day or two) switch from in-person instruction to NTI. Information on school nutrition sponsored feeding sites will be emailed soon. Students in the “ B” group will attend school on Tuesday and Thursday during week one, and Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday during week 2. So how will NTI be different from what we experienced in the spring? Types of matters to come before the Board in general should be policy matters or specific matters governed by the Board; rather than administrative, or matters required by statute. Those districts are either already 1:1 with technology, or relying on packet work to review concepts learned earlier in the year. Again, NTI is convenient for the school calendar, but not the same quality of student instruction as in-person attendance. As Superintendent and as Board members, we cannot adopt the perspective of any one group. The calendar adjustment also maximizes the number of in-person instructional days in February. Our Assistant Superintendent for Student Learning, Dr. Dylan Smith, gives an overview of what you can expect during NTI at both the elementary and secondary level in videos you can watch here: NTI at the Elementary Level video: https://youtu.be/jYfO_KE7ioc, NTI at the Secondary Level video: https://youtu.be/3AZk7yhYJ5g. It's our last day of school! No matter how hard everyone tries, this is the abject reality. The completed plan must be approved by our local board prior to submission to the Kentucky Department of Education for its approval. Child enrichment centers must also be closed starting March 16 to prevent community spread. But according to the governor and state epidemiologists, these state positivity numbers indicate this is not the time to return to in-person instruction. Offline Learning Days are a new mode of learning designed to be used on occasions, such as the teacher vaccination days, when instruction cannot be conducted through conventional means, but we do not want students to lose a day of instruction. Therefore, district administrators recently met with the local health department to review disease outbreak response plans. We will let you know later today whether Friday, January 29 will be an Offline Learning Day or an NTI day. More information will be provided in the coming days. You will receive an additional communication from the district regarding reopening plans after we receive feedback from the Oldham County Health Department later this week. Reminder: Monday, January 4, is a Teacher Work Day. Many thanks to our students, parents, and staff for your tremendous work and dedication as we navigated our way through two months of NTI. Please go to any of our other feeding sites from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on these days to receive meals. This option will be available to all students in Oldham County Schools, grades K-12. Vaccines will also need to be administered the following Friday, February 26. If you receive a call from district personnel advising that your child needs to quarantine, please comply with their direction. We appreciate the community’s continued support as we navigate these unknown waters. Although costly, it was undoubtedly the right decision to protect our students, our staff, and our community. **This website will go live at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 16**. Elementary and preschool times would remain the same. This resulted in a shortage of school staff necessary to safely conduct in-person school operations. This means we will utilize make-up days for inclement weather going forward. Here is the link to the change form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScqIor3srreose487oiDnA5gReM5n5XYjEYWiA-Kafselnc-Q/viewform. We are continually monitoring the numbers of staff and students with positive cases and the numbers of those in quarantine to inform our decisions. Reminder: this is ONLY IF YOU WANT TO SWITCH from in-person to VLA or from VLA to in-person. Each group of students will attend in-person classes for 10 days out of every 20 school days during each 4-week period. All parents need to plan for this now and cooperate with the guidelines from the CDC and Public Health so that schools can reopen. Superintendent We will be implementing the strict health and safety guidelines that we announced earlier this summer, including temperature checks upon arrival, face coverings at all times, frequent hand washing, and increased cleaning protocols. These orientations will also be recorded and published to our VLA website for families to access: https://sites.google.com/oldham.kyschools.us/vla/home, Elementary VLA Orientation (Virtual) This is due to the state allowing districts to meet the 1062 instructional hour requirement in fewer than 170 school days. Teachers and administrators will communicate their NTI plans to students and parents as soon as the district becomes aware of a potential closure. We will continue to review the numbers with the local health department on a weekly basis and make a determination on returning to in-person attendance no later than Thursday evening for the following week. NTI class schedules will resume on January 5. All persons wishing to speak during Public Expression must register prior to Public Expression. We developed our Virtual Learning Academy (VLA) to serve both groups. Nothing, as long as you have completed the normal online registration via Infinite Campus. Doing these things will greatly increase the likelihood of lowering our incidence rate and continuing in-person instruction. It makes me equally as proud to see the quality of work being performed and turned in by our students. For the week of January 4, pick up and delivery of meals will be on Tuesday (instead of Monday), and Thursday. If we move these Chromebooks from school-based to home-based devices to allow for strong NTI days on inclement weather days, it would diminish the effectiveness of our current in-person instructional practices. August 10th was the first mention, to my knowledge, of Dr. Stack proclaiming a 6% positivity rate being too high to safely go back to face-to-face instruction. Any of the options considered for reopening has unique logistical issues that accompany it. Quick video explanation on why we are making this decision: No smiling faces leaping off the school bus. Schools that have Chromebooks available use them throughout the day during in-person instruction. At this time, the plan remains the same for middle and high schools to reopen on an A/B schedule on September 28. We will have a portion of the meeting set aside for in-person public expression. At the end of the 2019-20 school year, the district created a Reopening Task Force. During closures due to the COVID pandemic, we were able to get devices into the hands of students who needed them within several days of announcing a move into NTI. We continually look for ways to cut the budget, save money wherever possible and remain good stewards of taxpayer money. There will be additional communication sent once that schedule is set by the health department, as it could impact the school schedule. However, even with strong implementation of NTI, more students are struggling academically, and emotionally, than during traditional in-person instruction. Spencer County. This will begin on Monday, January 11th and will be located at https://www.oldham.kyschools.us/mc/COVID-19-Report. We are partnering with the Oldham County Health Department to help contact trace within the school population. (You also should have completed normal registration via Infinite Campus before enrolling in the VLA). NTI tends to be more effective with older students because they are more independent learners and have the ability to work for longer stretches of time without parental supervision. With the pandemic, there may be times when we have to use expanded NTI days, but we must be mindful of the consequences of doing so. The only exceptions are when actively drinking or eating, or when outside and practicing appropriate social distancing. No students greeting each other with enthusiastic hugs and stories after a summer apart. Pushing back the start date will allow us extra time to hire for these positions to ensure we have a full teaching staff to educate our students. We also ask that you please continue to report positive test results to your child’s school so we can have accurate numbers. Once to fund the placement of full-time School Resource Officers in all of our schools; another for a small, but overdue increase in staff salaries. At that time, the district’s intention was to use make-up days for the first few snow days, knowing that it would not adversely affect the overall school calendar. This will be the most expensive year ever for operating our school system. To ensure the stability of our schools’ master schedule, we cannot allow students to transfer into or out of VLA until the end of the first trimester. Due to a nationwide shortage of a needed processor, these Chromebooks have not been delivered, which means we are not a 1:1 device district at this time. While parent, teacher, and community input is important, decisions regarding reopening cannot be based on popularity. The impact of community spread seeping into the schools resulted in a high number of staff being quarantined for 14 days. Appearance - The Board will designate a portion of each regular meeting to hear public comment concerning matters within the Board’s authority. It provided relief from the required 170 days of instruction per year, but it did not necessarily provide the same level or quality of learning that students were receiving when attending in person. At this time, we plan to return to instruction on Monday, January 11. The Oldham County Board of Education has approved changes to the February school calendar, in order to accommodate the administration of the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to OCS teachers and staff, which must be given four weeks after the first dose. A professional photographer will be present to capture the moment and a professional videographer will be present to record each walk across the stage. In addition, students may only get off the bus at their assigned afternoon stop. A day students will complete remote work that day. Since this has moved from a local decision to a statewide decision, if we don’t follow the recommendation, our liability increases to an unacceptable risk. We understand it is not ideal to have to cancel in-person learning so soon after returning, but working within the constraints of the OCHD, government guidelines and vaccine requirements, we find this the only manageable way to get vaccines administered in the required timeframe. This includes band and choir concerts, and anything else that brings outside spectators into our buildings. area in order to view this page. At this time our goal remains to reopen schools on August 12th. Thank you for your continued flexibility this school year. These school-based Chromebooks allow collaboration among students while maintaining social distancing. It’s important students keep up with the work and turn it in as requested. First, school districts in Kentucky don’t have to follow the same calendar, and there is flexibility on how to operate schools. Superintendent Greg Schultz opened this afternoon's special-called board meeting with the following statement: I want to express my thanks for the level of engagement from all regarding this school year. As we return to in-person instruction we understand that there are situations that may require us to be out of school, either with or without the support of teachers or staff members. States in the travel advisory can change at any time and that list can be found at: https://govstatus.egov.com/kycovid19. As always, I implore you to do your part by wearing a mask when in public, social distancing at all times, washing your hands, and following all other public health guidelines so we can get our students back in school as soon as possible. This provides a more manageable environment for in-person instruction. At this time we are postponing in-person student attendance for at least one week. Therefore, I will make a recommendation to the Board to adopt an A/B schedule for middle and high schools when the school year begins on August 24. Yet even with an enhanced virtual platform, remote learning is not, nor can it be, the same as face-to-face instruction. You will find these boards on your school’s website as well as the district website. Utilice este formulario solo si desea cambiar la inscripción de su hijo para el segundo trimestre, que comienza el lunes 23 de noviembre de 2020. The ”Healthy at Work” rules for in-person public expression will be posted by close of the business day on Monday. If you wish to change enrollment for your child for the second trimester, the deadline is Sunday, November 1 at 11:59 p.m. Vented masks are not allowed. Throughout this pandemic we have worked closely with the OCHD to design and implement mitigation strategies, share data, and inform our community. As always, thank you for your continued patience and support as we work through these unprecedented times. We want to resume school in a manner that is as normal for students as possible. Once an individual has given their public expression, they are to exit the building. Oldham County is still firmly in the red category in regards to community spread, so we can’t bring elementary and preschool students back into the buildings on December 14 as we had hoped, due to Governor Beshear’s Executive Order. Together, we are #TeamOldham! There are parents, students, and staff who want to start the year - and possibly conduct the entire year - in NTI, face-to-face, and everything in between. We will do our best to develop a solid plan with many built in options to provide us as much flexibility to reopen schools in as normal fashion as possible while still ensuring the health and wellness of students and staff. If we are in school Monday, please have them bring back the necessary items then. Elementary and Preschool students may return on December 7 IF Oldham County is not in the red zone (red zone means the county has 25 or more average daily cases per 100,000 population). Offline Learning Day: These are special situations when students would learn at home independently. Fortunately we have a great partnership with the Oldham County Health Department and appreciate their expertise and guidance in the area of public health. Fortunately some of our schools have had enough Chromebooks to share with other schools throughout the longer NTI periods. This information cannot currently be found in Infinite Campus. As December 7 approaches, we realize that we won’t be able to welcome our elementary and preschool students back into our buildings yet. Those wishing to share public expression are to remain in their cars at the Arvin Center until contacted via text. OCS Daily Covid-19 Report. As a community, parents are asked to check their children’s temperatures and review the screening questions everyday before sending their children to school. While the majority of students, parents, and staff want to be back in person, we must do so in a manner that has risk mitigation at its core and offers a reasonable chance at success.

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