KDE to host virtual town hall for local school board members on Aug. 13

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) will host a virtual town hall for local school board members on COVID-19 and holding in-person classes from 5:30-7:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 13.

The event, “Reopening Kentucky Schools: Virtual Town Hall for Local School Board Members” will be available to watch on the KDE Media Portal and be open to the public. Officials with KDE, the Kentucky School Boards Association and the Kentucky Department for Public Health will participate in the two-hour event.

The purpose of the town hall is to discuss Gov. Andy Beshear’s direction on Aug. 10 for schools to delay in-person classes until Sept. 28. The new guidance came after the governor and administration officials consulted with teachers and school administrators and was driven by several factors, including Kentucky’s cases being near a peak, an increase in infection rates among children across the U.S. and the experience of school districts in other states that already have reopened to in-person instruction.

“We want to make sure we bring local school board members into the conversation about what school will look like for the 2020-2021 school year,” said Interim Education Commissioner Kevin C. Brown. “We have consistently tried to get input from teachers, parents and superintendents as we have designed guidance for how to reopen schools this fall. This town hall gives us a chance to hear from one group that is critical to this mission of bringing students back into their buildings, the nearly 900 local school board members who will make many of the decisions about how that happens.”

Prior to the webcast, local school board members will be able to submit questions via this Google Form.

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