6,235 began distance learning on computers at their homes, while another group was scheduled to begin in-classroom lessons Thursday —
The new school year began Monday for Fayette County Public Schools. As of mid-week the school system said there were no problems reported, though there have been a few cases of staff and students who were positive for Covid-19.
The school year began with 31 percent of students signing up to attend virtually with distance learning for the entire year. The remaining 69 percent of students are on a hybrid schedule, with those students split into two groups and with each group in the classroom two days per week and attending virtually three days per week.
That translates into approximately 6,000 students attending virtually online and 14,000 signed-up to be in the classroom.
The only attendance information available, as of Wednesday afternoon, was for the first day of school on Monday.
School system spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach reported that the first day of school for virtual students showed 6,235 attending online.
For students (Group A) attending in the classroom, there were 4,254 at school on the first day, Berry-Dreisbach said.
It should be noted that, with only half the bricks and mortar students attending Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half attending Thursdays and Friday, the number of students attending in-school classes (Groups A and B combined) will be higher once numbers for the entire week are available.
“Monday went smoothly. No problems were reported at the schools or with the virtual school,” Berry-Dreisbach said. “We were very pleased that students showed up at the schools with their face coverings and that they have been adhering to the safety protocols.”
Berry-Dreisbach expressed the belief that the “Winners Together” campaign has helped to spread the word within the community about the importance of wearing a face covering, social distancing and frequent handwashing.
“It is wonderful to see everyone working together to keep our schools and community healthy,” she said.
As for cases of Covid-19, Berry-Dreisbach said, “We have had a few positive cases involving staff and students, but we are not seeing the numbers that other school systems have experienced. We attribute that back to the face coverings, social distancing, and handwashing protocols along with being on a hybrid schedule where there are fewer students in our schools at one time. This allows for more distancing among students in classrooms and hallways. We knew that it would be impossible to 100 percent prevent the virus from being in our schools, but we felt that we could mitigate the spread by putting safety measures in place, and so far, they are working.”
