Keith Hale, Superintendent of Glasgow Independent Schools, speaks to the Glasgow Board of Education regarding his school system’s handling of coronavirus issues on Monday, Feb. 8, 2020. Barret Lessenberry looks on as the voice of dissent regarding the system’s approach to permitting students back into schools.
(BRENNAN CRAIN/WCLU NEWS)
GLASGOW, Ky. – One member of the Glasgow Independent School Board of Education continued to voice his concern with the current status of the pandemic and the school system’s handling of it.
Barret Lessenberry, a school board member, voiced concerns last summer before the board took up a vote to return to classes. He repeated those same concerns last month before the body considered a phased return of all students.
Chad Muhlenkamp, Director of Pupil and Personnel, gave a report to the board regarding their handling of the pandemic. Elementary students returned to classrooms on Feb. 1.
“It’s been going really well,” Muhlenkamp said. “With that situation, we’ve had a couple of positive cases within the buildings.”
He said most of those incidents have happened outside of the school environment.
“Tell me about the two events,” Lessenberry said. “You say you’ve got two cases?”
Muhlenkamp initially described who was responsible for the data reporting at the health department, but he avoided the question at hand. He then described the guidelines for characterizing someone as a positive.
Lessenberry repeated the question, and questioned whether the positive cases were among students or staff. A direct answer was never given.
Those cases, whomever they existed among, apparently appeared within a week of the students’ return.
Lessenberry said various people in the community and parents have asked him about those instances, and he wanted to be able to give them a direct answer.
Keith Hale, the school system’s superintendent, said he would urge people to access the Kentucky Department of Education’s coronavirus dashboard or contact school officials with questions.
“Unless you live this everyday I’m sure it would be overwhelming for somebody that just plays in it everyday or looks at it every once in a while,” Hale said. “But Chad has done a great job and we will start sharing that more – that same information that we share with KDE.”
Hale said Muhlenkamp had undergone “thousands of hours of training” regarding the coronavirus and schools. He said he also received training from the health department and CDC.
“It won’t take you any more time to put me on the list. I’d just like to know,” Lessenberry said. “But I’m being asked. I could be your defense.”
Hale said the school system didn’t need Lessenberry to be their “defense.” He again urged concerned community members to call the school officials.
“It’s a red zone today. It was a red zone three months ago, but we’re treating it foolishly,” Lessenberry said.
The conversation was limited to Lessenberry’s concerns. He was the only voice of dissent when the board considered sending students back to classrooms all five days of the school week.
