At the regular monthly meeting of the Louisville Municipal School District Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, August 11, Superintendent David Luke presented a ‘hybrid’ reopening plan that will be used in all schools within the district, for traditional students. The district is also offering virtual and distance learning options for those students with safety concerns during the COVID-19 outbreak, and Luke stated that about 23% of the total student population has chosen those options. Traditional classes are set to begin on Thursday, August 20. With social distancing being a major concern during the pandemic, the hybrid schedule will allow for smaller class sizes. Luke added that those students opting for virtual/distance learning also helps in this area. In the hybrid plan, students with last names beginning with the letters A-H will report for class on Thursday, August 20; students with last names beginning with the letters I-Z will report on Friday, August 21. This rotating pattern will continue on Tuesday-Friday for the following two weeks, with all students working remotely from home on Monday, August 24 & August 31. On Tuesday, September 8, the day after Labor Day, all traditional students will report for class. Dual credit courses will attend as usual, and Pre-K students will attend daily beginning August 20. Virtual learning will have students logging in and joining classes over the internet. Distance learning consists of lesson packets which will be picked up at the school, completed and returned to the school. Luke stated that it was always the intention to have students wear masks when social distancing could not be achieved, however with a statewide mask mandate in place masks are required on buses and in the classroom. According to Luke the goal is to give the students the safest learning environment possible, and reduced class sizes helps in that area. Also, the hybrid schedule will allow teachers and staff to work through the procedures and make adjustments as necessary. Also, if required due to a worsening of the virus, all students could be moved to virtual/distance learning. In other action, the Board: • Voted 4-0 to approve application for Equity in Distance Learning Grant Program for an estimated $921.9K, with an 80/20 match. Luke stated that these funds could possibly be used to purchase additional Chromebooks for the district. Board member Robert Jones was not present. • Voted 4-0 to approve a pay back of up to $86.5K for Title findings for the FY 18-19 school year that were not permitted by the auditors. • Voted 4-0 to approve the following Sixteenth Section issues: • Approval to amend the Willie N. Shields/Juanita Hornesburger residential lease to Bobby Shields/Juanita Hornesburger on 16-14-12 (Center Ridge). • Approval of a new one acre residential lease for David Walker on 16-14-12 (Center Ridge). • Approval to advertise for bids on 640 acre hunting lease on 16-15-11 (Highpoint). • Approval to cancel a 5.62 acre lease on the City of Noxapater and approve this same lease for a commercial lease for Bill Stalcup on 16-13-12 (Noxapater). • Approval of highest bid on a 122 acre hunting lease on 16-14-11 (Shiloh), a 200 acre hunting lease on 16-14-10 (Rural Hill) and a 39 acre pasture lease on 16-13- 12 (Noxapater). The next scheduled meeting of the LMSD Board is Tuesday, September 8 at 5:30 p.m.; the meeting will be live-streamed on Youtube, under Louisville School District.
