At least three Kentucky school districts are using Non-traditional Instruction (NTI) days on Friday because of rising COVID-19 cases, with one district taking the day off.
In Grayson County, the January 3, 2022, Grayson County Schools (GCS) COVID-19 Dashboard update (the first of 2022) shows 15 students and five staff members COVID positive, with 41 students and zero staff members in quarantine.
By comparison, Thursday’s GCS COVID-19 Dashboard shows 42 students and 29 teachers COVID positive — a 355 percent increase since January 3 — with 302 students and 10 staff members in quarantine, a 760 percent increase.
The school district has 4,001 students and 615 staff members.
Hardin County Schools was the latest to announce the decision to take an NTI day on Friday. The Bullitt County School District will also utilize at-home learning. Jefferson County Schools has used NTI days all week and will again on Friday. Spencer County Schools is taking the day off.
“We have a significant number of positive COVID-19 cases among our staff and students,” Hardin County Schools Superintendent Teresa Morgan told the district’s parents. “We are hopeful that the NTI day, the weekend and the holiday on Monday will provide some time for those affected to get better. We’ll evaluate our COVID data today and will make a decision about Tuesday as soon as possible.”
The COVID rate of occurrence in Jefferson County is the third highest in Kentucky at 235.3, while Hardin County’s rate of occurrence stands at 204.1, tenth highest in the state. Bullitt County’s incident rate is 187.3, 21st highest in the commonwealth, with Spencer County 23rd with an incident rate of 182.3.
An incident rate over 25.0 indicates a “critical spread” of the virus, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
Grayson County’s incident rate on Thursday was 87.6, 81st highest of Kentucky’s 120 counties.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
