Lee County School District

Virtual School Through Wednesday Our community has experienced historical devastation in our downtown area as well as other areas of the county. We are sending prayers to all those affected and thanks to all those who are helping with rescues and recovery. The school system has offered assistance to the county judge executive and mayor and we are here for the duration if anything is needed. We will remain on virtual learning through at least Wednesday of this week and will see if we can bring students back in person at that time. We recognize some people are displaced and a few are without power, so if students are not able to do their work virtually now we understand and it can be made up later. We want to give our students an outlet to communicate with their teachers and peers as we work through yet another challenge of this school year. We will have staff at both schools so if families need anything please reach out. Sarah Wasson Superintendent

Virtual Learning Monday, March 1 The rain has caused flooding issues in parts of Lee County as well as surrounding counties where some of our staff live. The rain is not predicted to stop until almost 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, so the flash flooding that is happening now will continue to be a problem throughout the night. All students will be on virtual learning tomorrow, Monday, March 1. Staff should come to the buildings unless you can’t get out of your house due to flood waters. Those that must take an alternate route to avoid flood waters should wait to leave when it is daylight so you can clearly see there is no water causing issues as you travel.

In Person Learning Tomorrow and Friday The warm temperatures of today will allow us to be back to in-person learning tomorrow and Friday. We are very excited to see all the in-person students again! Our buses will roll out at their normal times but be ready a little early as their schedules are still adjusting. Next week we will be in person Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday as long as weather permits. You can count on us going in-person on this schedule until further notice as long as the weather is good and our COVID-19 incidence rate doesn’t increase significantly. Plan on this schedule unless you hear differently from me. Sarah Wasson Superintendent

Remote Learning Monday-Wednesday, Feb. 22-24 We still have a few families without power in the community, but we are planning to have remote learning tomorrow through Wednesday of this week. Some of our side roads are still too bad for bus travel, our ATC building and bus garage do not have power due to an issue that the electric company hasn’t had a chance to get to with all the residential issues, and we have about 50 staff who will be getting their second COVID-19 vaccination tomorrow. Some of our staff that took the vaccine on Friday had symptoms after the shot that would not have allowed them to work the day after, so we want to make sure our staff is well enough to return to in-person learning. Hopefully the temperatures will warm up and we will return to in person learning on Thursday. If any student needs a warm place to be or to do their work, please call the school in the morning and set up a time to come to the buildings. We will also have food available to students from our meal program. If you need food please call the schools and come by to pick it up. If you can’t get out of your location, please call central office at 606-464-5000 and ask to speak to Mrs. Wasson and we will see what we can do to help you.

No School Through Friday, February 19 There are still a number of families without power and with the new snow that is predicted tonight we are going to cancel all school through this Friday. This means we will not have virtual learning or in-person learning tomorrow or Friday. We will see what the weekend holds for weather and let you know where we stand for next week on Sunday.

Wednesday, February 17- No Virtual School With many power outages still causing difficulties, Lee County Schools will not have virtual instruction tomorrow, Wednesday, February 17. Tomorrow will be another non-school day made up at the end of the calendar year. We thank all those that are working to restore power and water and keep the roads clear of snow, ice, and trees. Please stay safe.

No School in Lee County Tuesday, February 16 There will be no school in Lee County tomorrow, Tuesday, February 16. This will not be a virtual learning day. We will add this day to the end of the school calendar. Please stay home and stay safe.

Remote Learning Friday, Feb. 12 and Information About Next Week There are icy spots on roads that haven’t been treated and the temperatures will drop tonight causing wet spots to refreeze overnight. We will have a remote learning day tomorrow, Friday, February 12. Staff should check their email about reporting to the buildings. We would like to remind families that Monday, February 15, is a break day for all staff and students in honor of President’s Day. There will be no virtual or in-person learning Monday. We do plan on having in-person instruction next week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday if the weather cooperates. Forecasts right now do not look hopeful so we will be communicating with everyone next week.

Thursday, February 11, 2021 After another phone conference this afternoon with The National Weather Service in Jackson, KY, we are fairly confident we will have an ice event through the early morning hours. We are attaching two of the slides that were shared with us to indicate the timing of the event and the amount of ice expected. The amount expected has decreased slightly over what was predicted yesterday, but could still cause some issues for our district. We will plan to be on complete remote learning tomorrow, Thursday February 11th. If the ice does cause widespread power outages, please don’t worry. In that case, we will make up the day at the end of the year. We will let you know as soon as possible if that happens. Stay safe and warm tomorrow.

School February 8 through February 12 The incidence rate in Lee County is climbing back upward and we are now at 25.1 as of Thursday evening. There were 5 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Lee County yesterday, 2 on Wednesday, and 4 on Tuesday. Prior to that we were seeing numbers of 0 and 1 daily. It is imperative that we all continue to follow healthy guidelines so that we can keep school in person. Please don’t let you guard down. Maintaining 6 feet distance from others and wearing masks along with proper handwashing will help us all keep the spread of the virus in our community down. We have done well in the schools so far and ask you to continue to let us know if anyone in your circle of family and friends tests positive so we can work to keep the virus out of the schools as much as possible. We will be in person next week except for Wednesday as long as the weather cooperates with us. Monday of the following week, February 15 is President’s Day and is a break day for staff and students. Sarah Wasson Superintendent

Tuesday, February 2- Virtual School Day With the snow continuing to fall and the dropping temperatures and wind chill we will not be able to run buses in the morning. Tuesday, February 2nd, will be another virtual day. Wednesdays are always virtual learning days and we hope that we can return on Thursday in person because Thursday will be our 100th day of school. We would like to encourage staff and students in all grades to wear a shirt with 100 of your favorite things or dress like a 100 year old person on Thursday. Our virtual students can participate by emailing photos of you in your 100th day attire to Mrs. Wasson at sarah.wasson@lee.kyschools.us. We will also start a Facebook thread on Thursday where photos can be shared.

Monday February 1 will be a Virtual Learning Day for Lee County We don’t usually call school off for weather on a prediction, but the information from all stations including Jackson Weather Services indicates it will start snowing this evening and has potential to snow all day tomorrow. In order to give families the most time to prepare, we are going to make tomorrow, Monday February 1st a virtual learning day in Lee County.

Information for School Friday and the week of February 1- February 5 Tomorrow, Friday January 29, will be a virtual learning day because of snow covered side roads and several wet spots on roads that will freeze tonight as the temperature drops to a predicted 19 degrees. If the weather improves, we do plan to return to in person learning next Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The COVID-19 incidence rate in Lee County has improved significantly and is currently at 15.4. We hope that everyone does not let their guard down because of our good numbers. Continue to wear your masks in public, wash your hands, and practice social distancing to help stop the spread of the virus. We look forward to getting students back in our buildings next week. Sarah Wasson Superintendent

No In Person Classes Thursday, Jan. 28 The snow that is coming down now is projected to continue to fall throughout the night and accumulate as much as 2 inches. Tomorrow, Thursday January 28, there will be no in person classes or small groups with our virtual intervention instructors. It will be a virtual learning day for Lee County because of the weather. Please stay safe if you must travel.

In Person Learning January 25-January 29 I want to reach out this afternoon to let you know that we will be able to continue in-person learning this coming week, January 25- January 29. Wednesday will continue to be a virtual learning day. Our numbers are staying fairly consistent and we feel as though we can safely bring students into our buildings because we continue to follow CDC recommendations. It is very important that families keep in contact with the schools if your children have been around a positive case of COVID-19 so we can help determine when they may return to in person learning. In order to best protect everyone, students need to remain on quarantine for 14 days after contact with a positive case but it can be very confusing regarding when this time starts and ends. If a student tests positive it is important that they isolate for 10 days, and there is an executive order for parents to communicate that information with the schools as soon as you know so that we can keep all in-person students and staff safe. We are very fortunate that by the end of the day tomorrow the COVID-19 vaccine will have been administered to all staff that wanted to take it. We thank our local health department and our regional health department for working with us so quickly to get our staff taken care of. We hope this will help us continue to feel good about having in person learning, but we will continue to monitor the incident rate map and make decisions on a weekly basis regarding in-person school for the following week. We thank our families for all you are doing to support the schools and we want you to know we are here for you. Reach out with any concerns. Sarah Wasson Superintendent

Lee County School Families, The news from the regional health department was promising today and Lee County is headed in the right direction. Our map number is currently at 30.9 and the data is more current now than it had been over the holiday period, so we will start back with in person learning this coming week. Please note that Monday, January 18th is a break day for schools as it is a day set aside to honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Students who selected in person learning will come on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday this coming week. Each week that we are in person, Wednesday will remain a virtual learning day to allow us time to deep clean the buildings in the middle of the week and to allow for teachers to have the necessary time to try to balance virtual and in person learners. While we are very excited to have students coming back in the buildings, it is also a nervous time for all. The only way we can make it happen safely is for all of us to do our parts in trying to contain the virus. If your child or anyone in your household has been in contact with a person positive for COVID-19, it is important that they stay in isolation or quarantine at home. A person testing positive must isolate for 10 days from the positive test, and a person who is a household member of a positive person must quarantine 14 days after the positive person has recovered. If you have any questions about the time period you need to stay away from other people and not return to school, we would be glad to talk you through the guidelines. The Governor still has an executive order requiring all parents to notify the schools if their children test positive. Please continue to do this and also let us know if there is a positive case of COVID in your home. All information remains confidential. We have spaced our desks very closely to 6 feet apart and are following all CDC guidelines and recommendations. We know, however, that there is always a chance that COVID will come into our buildings. If a student or staff member tests positive, we will be in contact with all those who will have to quarantine. It may be that a small group of students, an entire class, an entire grade, or larger population will have to return to remote learning for a time period to work through a quarantine. We ask for your patience and understanding in this process. If the numbers in Lee County begin to escalate dramatically, we may switch back to remote learning for the following week or on a short notice depending upon the situation. One thing we have all had to learn to get better at during this pandemic is flexibility, and I personally want to thank our parents and families for the grace you have shown in being flexible throughout this entire school year. Buses will run on normal schedules on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday of next week but because the number of students will vary you should watch for your bus early and expect it may come later than usual. If you can transport your child to help us reduce the number of students on the buses, please continue to do so. Food deliveries will not take place but families whose children will remain on virtual learning may pick up food at either lunchroom. If your child was coming in person in October or you scheduled for your child to come in person and you now want them to remain virtual but haven’t told school staff, please call and let us know tomorrow. We all look forward to seeing our students next week. Sarah Wasson Superintendent

To: Lee County Bobcat Families I hope that all of our families had a relaxing two week break from school in December and have gotten back into the swing of school. We have been monitoring our numbers on the COVID-19 dashboard and they were pretty good at the first of the week but went up to 52.1 yesterday. In communicating with the regional health department, the 14 new cases that were added yesterday were in large part due to the regional jail. However, because the map uses data that is from when the cases are reported on the national system, we know this data is quite a bit behind our current case count. Our regional health director is very helpful in providing me with timely information regarding the status of cases in our county, and he has indicated that numbers have increased significantly since the first of the year. This was the prediction from the Christmas holiday and then, a week later, the New Year’s gatherings. Because the numbers are significantly up, we will be staying on remote learning this coming week. This is a great disappointment to all of us. We have worked all week to communicate with families and get accurate counts of who wants to come back in person. We have spaced our desks correctly and have everything in place to be able to do school in the healthiest environment possible. But with the numbers of positive cases on the rise in our small community and the health department struggling to keep up with the cases due to the high volume, we feel like the safest thing to do at this time is to stay with remote learning. In order to truly get a handle on this virus, we need everyone to follow the CDC guidelines of social distancing, hand washing, and mask wearing. Gathering together with people outside your family in larger groups and being less than 6 feet apart is causing many to get the virus or quarantine. In order for us to help with the contact tracing of our students and staff, it is important for all cases involving our students to be reported. You can report positive cases of COVID-19 to Mr. Phillip Angel at central office or to the principals of the school. We also have attached a Google form that you can use to report positive cases or quarantines involving people in the household of one of our students. This information would help us greatly in determining whether or not we can have in person school. We will continue to gather the data, look at the map, and communicate with our regional health department regularly and will make decisions based on all the data we have. I will let you know on Thursday of next week whether we can start back on January 19th or if we will postpone a little longer. Keep in mind that January 18th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and there will be no virtual school that day. Sincerely, Sarah Wasson Superintendent https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLgi24Z5QUQmiTgiwdVrQHDXfswCPWQ1dbWx9jsTnZ3G8veA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Update on School For January, 2021 Tonight we are just one school day away from a well-deserved and needed break for families and staff. I want to let you know about our current plan for returning to in person learning after the break. The governor has recommended students do not return to in person learning until at least January 11th due to potential spread of the virus during the holiday, and we agree with this recommendation. Remote learning will pick back up on January 4, 2021, but we will not have in person learning or small group targeted assistance during that first week. We hope to return to in person learning on January 11th, but will have to make the final decision during the first week back once we see where Lee County is with the spread of the virus. Over the break I’m sure that some of our students may catch up on missing work or finalize assignments that they weren’t able finish this week. Please know that teachers will review work that students make up when they return on January 4th, and don’t worry if you don’t see a quick response on questions or grades being entered into Infinite Campus. While all of our teachers and staff love helping our students and go above and beyond what we ask of them, I have asked them to try to take a break from their screens just as our students and parents need a break from theirs. This is a time for all of us to enjoy time with family, relax, and reflect on the blessings that we have even in this difficult COVID world we live in. We are pleased with the number of cases of the virus being reported by the regional health department right now as they appear to be going down. We still need to hear communication from parents if your children have tested positive to the virus so that we can work to keep all students and staff safe when we are able to return to in person learning in January. We know the health department is overrun with a high caseload and we keep our own records of cases and try to assist in the contact tracing process so that we can keep known cases and contact with positive cases out of school a safe amount of time. If your child were to test positive or anyone in your home tests positive over the break please call my direct line at 606-464-5066 and let me know or send me an email. I will be in the office several days over the break and will receive voicemail if I happen to be out. We appreciate everything that our families and community have done as we have worked together to educate the children of Lee County in a most difficult time. All of us in the Lee County Schools hope that everyone has a safe break and we look forward to seeing you in 2021! Sincerely, Sarah Wasson Superintendent

Free Food Basket Program and School Next Week I want to make all of our families aware of an opportunity to receive a free food basket for the holidays. This coming Saturday, December 12th, there will be a drive through food distribution at Cliffview Resort at the Zipline entrance. Families will receive a food basket with a turkey or ham and other food items for holidays. The event takes place from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and people will receive a basket on a first come first served basis. Everyone will have to stay in their vehicles and food will be brought to your car. This is for anyone in Lee and Wolfe County with a need for additional food and is sponsored by a group called Giving in the Gorge. Lee County is still in the red on the state incident rate map and the governor’s executive order shutting down schools in counties in the red is still in place. Therefore, we will still be on complete remote learning this coming week. December 14th – 18th will be our last week before we have a much needed break for 2 weeks. It is extremely important for us to not become complacent with the guidance of the health department. We should all wash our hand regularly, wear our masks, maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet, and if we are sick or around anyone who is sick we should quarantine until we are symptom free for 24 hours without fever reducing medicine. Holidays are especially difficult because they are traditionally a time of gathering, and we need to take precautions to stay healthy and keep our family and friends healthy. Please continue to reach out to the schools, your children’s teachers, and our virtual program staff if your children are needing help with their work. It is our goal that all children are successful and we will do our best to help in any way. Thank you, Sarah Wasson Superintendent

Healthy at Home Utility Support We want to make sure our families are aware of this help from one of our community partners. The Middle Kentucky Community Action Partnership supports this program in the Lee County area.