Bardstown Schools to start later, cut down on breaks - KYStandard.com

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Similar to a decision announced last week by the county school system, Bardstown Independent Schools is also moving its start date for the new school year to the end of August. The district will now return to school on Monday, Aug. 24, but families can expect additional changes to the school calendar.

“That’s three weeks later than we planned, so that will impact our calendar,” Superintendent Ryan Clark said of the new date.

This impact includes taking spring break down to one week. There will also be no fall break this year, except for a break for Thanksgiving.

“With a later start, we would only have had 27 instructional days prior to getting to our normal fall break, which is just not a lot of in-person time,” Clark said. “We don’t know exactly what we are going to be facing in the fall. If we were to experience or be asked to close in the fall, we want to have as much in-person instruction as possible. We know that is best and we really want to provide that for students who are choosing that.”

The district plans to end the year on May 28.

The decision to push the start of school back comes as the city district and others continue to receive guidance from the state on how to reopen amid concerns of COVID-19. Several practices that are expected from districts this year will require changes to how school days typically operate, and schools, educators and families need additional time to prepare for those changes.

“We are ready for kids to come back to school and wish that we could get back with them sooner rather than later,” Clark said. “But we have to make sure that our schools are safe and healthy and ready to come back to.”

The district is preparing schools for social distancing by rearranging classroom furniture to allow for more space between students. Among the practices to be implemented this year to comply with state guidelines, students will have assigned seats in class as well as on the bus, and all staff and students in first grade and above will be required to wear masks wherever social distancing is not possible.

“Principals are working with staff to make sure they are building in breaks for kids to remove their masks,” Clark said. “And of course we are also working on regular hand-washing.”

On school buses, the district already separates its K-5 and 6-12 students into different routes, so that practice will continue to help lessen crowds. Clark also anticipates more students to be dropped off by parents this year or to choose virtual learning, which will cut down on bus capacity as well.

“Monitoring illness is going to be really, really important,” he said.

This includes temperature checks, which parents are encouraged to do at home each day, but that will also be done as students arrive on campus.

School buildings, buses and high traffic areas will be disinfected more frequently by the district’s housekeeping and maintenance staff.

When it comes to food service, Clark said social distancing among students will be required and “multiple spaces” throughout schools will be used for mealtimes.

“We won’t have options like a la carte while we are dealing with the pandemic,” he said. “We do, however, have plans to provide students with hot lunches as much as we can.”

BCS offering online option

Going into the new school year, Bardstown students will have a choice of in-person classes on campus or taking part in virtual learning, which can be done from home.

“The online learning experience will not be like when we did NTI at the end of last year. It’s going to look different,” Clark said. “The students that select that online option, we are going to provide them with a Chromebook and each of our schools will provide access to online programs that are appropriate for that student’s grade level. The student will have access to a Bardstown teacher for support, and there is also going to be regular monitoring of student progress. We are going to be very involved with what students are doing online and keeping tabs on how they are progressing.”

Families that choose online learning will be asked to commit to at least one quarter (nine weeks) of instruction using that method. Every nine weeks, progress will be evaluated and a student may choose to return to in-person learning if they desire.

Students who choose to participate in online learning will still have access to extracurricular activities, including athletics.

Schools will communicate with families in the coming weeks to discuss in-person and online learning opportunities and which option would best fit their needs.

“Teachers are going to be very adaptive. They are going to have to be,” Clark said of adjusting to this unique school year and meeting student needs as requirements change. “That’s a big part of the training that we are going to be doing” before the start of the year.

Clark expects to receive additional reopening guidance from the state later this month, including guidelines tailored more to preschools and special education practices.

This week, BCS launched a website, BCSReopening.com, which will be updated for families to find information about the new school year and what is expected.

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