KDE to host Virtual Town Hall on Reopening Schools for Kentucky educators and staff on July 23

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet will co-host a virtual town hall on reopening schools for state educators and other support staff from 2-4 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 23.

The event “Reopening Kentucky Schools: Virtual Town Hall for Educators and Staff” will be hosted on the KDE media portal and will be open to the public.

The purpose of the town hall is to review the major elements of the flagship “Healthy at School” guidance developed by the Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) and KDE, along with other major KDE guidance documents as they relate to reopening for the 2020-2021 school year and the flexibilities granted to districts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officials with KDE, DPH and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, who also serves as Secretary of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, will participate in the two-hour virtual town hall.

“Our main goal is to go over the five main areas of the flagship document as well as give a high-level overview of the state-level guidance documents we have issued and how to find them on the KDE COVID-19 website,” said Interim Education Commissioner Kevin C. Brown. “Over the past few weeks, we had been hearing from some teachers and other certified and classified staff members from across the state that they had not been receiving any state-level reopening information from their local districts and there were some rumors being spread about school-based decision making council authority being waived, which is not true.”

Brown added: “We want to communicate with all of our educators and staff about our statewide guidance documents. We hope it will be used in conjunction with what the local districts have already done.”

Coleman noted that every aspect of our society has been changed by COVID-19. This includes education.”

“Our goal has been to keep the safety of everyone who enters a school building at the forefront of all our decisions,” she said. “We have worked to make sure every group – students, parents, teachers and community members – have had input on what school reopening looks like in their communities.”

Prior to the webcast, teachers and support staff can submit questions to KDE via this Google Form, but the Town Hall will only address questions that are related to state-level topics. To participate during the live event, teachers and staff can go to: https://app.gosoapbox.com and enter the access code: KDEtownhall.

The agenda for the town hall is as follows:

Reopening Kentucky Schools: Virtual Town Hall for Educators and Staff

July 23, 2020, 2-4 p.m. ET

KDE Media Portal

I. Welcome

Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, Secretary of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet and Ex Officio Member of the Kentucky Board of Education
Kevin C. Brown, Interim Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Education

II. Overview of Healthy at School Expectations

Kevin C. Brown, Interim Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Education
Steven J. Stack, M.D., MBA, FACEP, Commissioner, Kentucky Department for Public Health
Connie White, M.D., Deputy Commissioner, Kentucky Department for Public Health
Kelly Foster, Ed.D., Associate Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Education Office of Continuous Improvement and Support
Robin Kinney, Associate Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Education Office of Finance and Operations

III. Locating COVID-19 Guidance Documents on KDE’s Website

Kelly Foster, Ed.D., Associate Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Education Office of Continuous Improvement and Support

IV. Daily Participation and Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI)

David Cook, Kentucky Department of Education Office of Continuous Improvement and Support

V. COVID-19-Related Flexibility and Waiver Overview for the 2020-2021 School Year

Todd G. Allen, Interim General Counsel, Kentucky Department of Education Office of Legal Services

VI. Questions and Additional Feedback

Question may be asked during the event using GoSoapBox (https://app.gosoapbox.com and enter the access code: KDEtownhall). You also may submit questions in advance via the Google Form.

VII. Adjournment