Christian County school board members heard an update Thursday night regarding the number of COVID-19 cases among staff and students, which has increased in the last couple of weeks.
During presentations at the special workshop, Assistant Superintendent of Administration Laura Morris said there are 8,204 students enrolled in the school district and 264 students enrolled in Virtual Learning Academy (VLA). As of 2:00 Thursday afternoon, Morris said the district’s COVID Dash Board reflects over 220 active COVID cases among staff and students with more than 460 students in quarantine.
She added they are continuing to work very hard on the district’s mitigation strategies which include hand washing and hand sanitizers, hygiene and student education.
Morris said a lot of the COVID cases are coming from outside of the schools.
When Morris was asked by board member Tiffany Mumford Brame if she believed students were safer at school than at home and if she saw the numbers increasing after the Labor Day holiday, Morris said there is not a specific spread in the schools but they have seen an increase in positive cases among students after a large community event.
Superintendent Chris Bentzel also noted they have pulled some staff from the Central Office to help cover instructional classes due to a shortage of substitute teachers.
In new business, Director of Finance Jessica Darnell asked the board to approve a BG-1 for exterior wall panels for South Christian Elementary School’s gymnasium due to rain blowing through the brick and block.
She added they have used this same product in three other gymnasium situations – Christian County High, Indian Hills Elementary and Hopkinsville Middle – and they are confident it will protect the gym in the future.
Board members unanimously approved the BG-1 request for nearly $93,000, along with a BG-5 for the Hopkinsville High School roof wing 200 project that is the final close-out document for the Kentucky Department of Education paperwork. Darnell also pointed out this project came in $18,193 under budget.
