Fayette schools tout good health news, vaccine clinics, virtual learning deadline

FAYETTE COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ/Fayette Schools) – Lower COVID case numbers and a falling rate in the community has Fayette County schools heading into the home stretch f the year on a positive note.

And the approval of a vaccine for younger ages has the district opening more vaccination clinics for students and families in the next few days.

Interim Superintendent Marlene Helm outlined the news Tuesday in her weekly letter to students, parents and stakeholders:

Dear Fayette County Public Schools Families:

In just a week, we will close the door on the 2020-21 school year, with all of its challenges and triumphs, heartaches and joys. We began the year apart, learning remotely and striving to return to campus.

We will end in a vastly different place, in which most of our students have returned to in-person learning, our seniors will graduate in Rupp Arena, and we are taking other incremental steps back to normal.

After today’s meeting with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, I am pleased to report that the current 7-day average of new cases in Fayette County is 27, placing our community in yellow on the FCPS In-Person Learning Matrix

Positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff are down to 37 in the past week and the number of individuals placed into quarantine due to possible exposure was 298 during that same time period.

The increasing number of fully vaccinated students, employees, and family members has played a critical role in reducing transmission rates and quarantine numbers. With yesterday’s exciting news that children between the ages of 12 and 15 are now eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine, we are expanding our partnership with Wild Health to make this potentially life-saving shot available to even more members of our FCPS community.

All students age 12 and older, their families, employees, and their families are invited to visit kyvax.wildhealth.com and sign up to receive their first or second vaccinations at any of the following clinics:

• Thursday, May 13, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at STEAM Academy, located at 1555 Georgetown Road.
• Tuesday May 18, from 8 to 11 a.m. at Bryan Station (301 Eastin Road), Henry Clay (2100 Fontaine Road), and Lafayette (401 Reed Lane) high schools.
• Tuesday, May 18, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Frederick Douglass (2000 Winchester Road), Paul Laurence Dunbar (1600 Man o’ War Boulevard.), and Tates Creek (1111 Centre Parkway) high schools.

We are working with Wild Health to offer additional dates, times and locations, and will communicate those opportunities once details are available.

In closing, I want to remind our families that we anticipate a full return to in-person learning for the 2021-22 school year. Any family seeking a full-time virtual learning option for their student must apply for the stand-alone Virtual Learning Academy before midnight on Friday, May 14, 2021.

To apply, click here and you will be prompted to log in or sign up for a user account. Once you complete that step, choose the box that says “Begin Application,” to get started.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your current school or the Special Programs office at special.programs@fayette.kyschools.us.Let’s make the most of the remaining days of our 2020-21 school year!

Sincerely,Marlene HelmFayette County Public Schools Acting Superintendent