As COVID-19 surges, JCPS board votes down relaxed quarantine policies
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky's largest district rejected a proposal to relax quarantine policies and end in-school contact tracing Tuesday evening.
Jefferson County's seven-member school board voted 4-3 against a slate of changes brought by district leaders.
The vote comes the same day Kentucky exceeded a million COVID-19 cases.
Board chairwoman Diane Porter, vice chairman Corrie Shull and board members Chris Kolb and Joe Marshall voted against the changes. Board members Linda Duncan, James Craig and Sarah McIntosh voted in favor.
In an hourlong discussion, board members echoed the concerns of parents and teachers who asked why the district would relax mitigation efforts during high COVID-19 cases.
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Under the district's proposal, schools would no longer need to continue to alert families if someone in their child's class tests positive, but they would no longer contact trace to find those who may have been exposed.
Students and staff also would have no longer needed to quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19 inside school buildings.
Superintendent Marty Pollio said the rules follow recent guidance from state health officials, adding, "We've said along the way that we would follow their guidance."
Schools must have universal masking in order to safely implement the relaxed quarantine rules under the state guidance.
Kolb questioned how well students are masking during the day, calling universal masking "a fiction that we like to believe in."
Background: Thousands of teachers needed substitutes this year. Many didn't get them
"All we're doing here is lowering the bar," Kolb continued. "Nothing has changed about COVID."
Marshall said the district already isn't catching every case of COVID-19 in buildings, fearing the changes would allow more cases to go unnoticed.
"I'm just not confident that it is going to get the results that we need and really give our children what they need at the end of the day," Marshall said.
The meeting came as JCPS began its second week of nontraditional instruction because of high numbers of staff absences tied to COVID-19. Shorter quarantines under the proposal could help get teachers back in the classrooms faster, but Pollio said it would not solve the district's staff shortages sparking NTI.
Staff cases are driving more absences than staff quarantines, according to district data. Anyone who tests positive will still need to isolate.
Search the data: How many COVID-19 cases, quarantines are in JCPS?
Pollio said he had met with the unions representing district staff, including the teachers union. They all supported the recommended policies, he said.
During Tuesday's meeting, the school board authorized Pollio to place individual schools on remote learning days if needed in the future. Districts get 10 remote days per school and cannot use them to close all schools at the same time.
Pollio said decisions regarding remote learning will be made with input from school principals, but Pollio will make the final call.
This story may be updated.
Reach Olivia Krauth at okrauth@courierjournal.com and on Twitter at @oliviakrauth.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: JCPS school board votes against new relaxed quarantine policy
