KENTUCKY — It was announced in mid-March that about 200 students in Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS) have been asked to quarantine after 11 students tested positive for the coronavirus.
Students who go from in-person to virtual learning are being switched into different classes.
And because of the schedule change after the school year started, some students are falling behind with missing assignments.
During this In Focus Kentucky segment, reporter Crystal Sicard speaks with one family who is trying to understand the quarantine changes for her daughters.
“She is a special needs child, so changes are hard on her in the first place. And I understood changes going back in person versus virtual, and she's better off in person and that change was necessary,” said Gina Smith, a parent in Fayette County.
Smith is one of many parents who has a child in quarantine after students returned to in-person learning. Smith’s husband tested positive for COVID-19, causing her daughter’s schedule to switch from in-person to virtual.
“They took away one of her special ed classes, her learning strategies class, and all of her teachers have changed,” Smith said.
Smith said the school changed her daughter's schedule, taking her out of classes and changing her electives and teachers. Smith was told that her daughter may not be able to rejoin some of her original classes once she returns in person.
“Now I'm really just really frustrated because she was looking forward to going back in person. And now all of a sudden, not only is it that her classes have changed, she doesn't understand why her classes have changed,” Smith said.
The Smiths are not the only family that has been put in quarantine. According to Lisa Deffendall, spokeswoman for FCPS, as of Monday, March 15, the district had 11 students test positive for COVID-19, requiring 197 students to be quarantined. Those students were asked to quarantine as a precaution.
“In terms of the scale, you know, we're a district that has 42,000 students, and roughly 35,000 of our kids are back in person. So I think that across our community, we are seeing a high degree of confidence,” Deffendall said.
Deffendall said each school has developed its own virtual and in-person learning schedules based on the number of students returning to in-person classes. Schools that have fewer students may only have one teacher teaching virtual lessons for certain grade levels.
Deffendall said the schedule changes are all based on the number of virtual classes available through the specific school.
“It's not always going to result in a schedule change, it just depends on the individual situation. And really the arrangements that have been made at that school level,” Deffendall said.
When asking the district about their procedures with students with special needs, such as Smith’s daughter, Deffendall said each situation is handled differently.
“When we work with our students who have special needs every student has an individualized education plan. And we work directly with that child and family, to make sure that we're meeting all of their educational needs,” Deffendall said.