Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Principals and other school administrators reviewed their plans for returning students to their classrooms when in-person instruction resumes Oct. 30.

Students whose parents choose not to continue with distance learning only will attend classes in person two days a week, half of them on Mondays and Tuesdays and the others on Thursdays and Fridays, according to the A-B hybrid model the schools will put in place at the end of the first nine weeks. The days they’re away from school, students will learn online. Wednesdays will be used for teacher planning and cleaning and disinfecting the schools.

David Bolen, principal of George Rogers Clark High School, said that about 33 percent of his students would continue virtual learning, but there will be opportunities for those students to meet one-on-one with their teachers at the school.

“It’s as close to normal as it can be, but it’s not going to be normal, unfortunately,” Bolen said.

The reason for having only half of the high school students in the building on the same day is that they have to be separated by a distance of six feet to reduce the chances of getting the coronavirus from an infected student, and that means classrooms can’t accommodate as many students. It isn’t an ideal situation for students or teachers, who must teach online and in person, but it is the model most schools in Central Kentucky have adopted to include some in-person learning.

“I don’t think you can replace face-to-face,” Bolen said.

Dustin Howard, principal of Campbell Junior High School, said that only about 13 percent of his students have opted for virtual learning.

John Mounts, principal of Baker Intermediate School, said students there will first be brought into the gym, where they will be socially distant, before going to their classes.

Students at most of the elementary schools will go directly to their classrooms.

Greg Hollon, chief academic officer for the school district, said in response to a question by board chair Ashley Ritchie that students in kindergarten and first grade would still be getting packets of instructional material to take home.

Kara Davies, principal of the Clark County Preschool, said her school will allow children to spend time learning and playing outdoors when possible.

The nearly three-hour board meeting is recorded on YouTube and can be seen by going to the Clark County Public Schools website, http://www2.clarkschools.net/home/ and from the home page, and from there, in the menu at the top, go to District Links, then Board of Education. The links to the YouTube videos of the meetings will be at the bottom of the page.