The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is encouraging school districts to be “flexible” when considering the start of the upcoming school year during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Brown told superintendents that Governor Beshear and Lieutenant Governor Coleman want to ensure that both the KDE and local school districts plan for multiple scenarios that could play out before and after the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

Brown says planning is already underway even though many unknowns remain about what a new school year might look like for schools across the Commonwealth.

Brown says the Governor and Lieutenant Governor want the KDE and its districts to consider three possibilities for when the next school year might start:

-An early start, perhaps as early as late July

-A traditional start

-A late start, perhaps after Labor Day

Brown says an early start could let districts begin the year with in-person instruction if a dip in COVID-19 cases permits, with the possibility of suspending in-person classes if cases spike in the fall.

Brown told the superintendents they might want to consider asking their local boards of education to approve multiple calendars to prepare for these different scenarios. He says districts should be prepared to adapt to changing circumstances near or after the beginning of the school year.

He also says starting in-person classes could come with several changes that have to be made in the interest of the health and safety of both students and faculty.

The KDE says those changes could include the use of social distancing both in the school buildings and on buses.

He adds the KDE is working alongside the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Southern Regional Educational Board as it develops guidance.

Brown says planning will continue in the coming weeks and months. He says the planning will involve districts and partner groups, but the decisions will ultimately be made at the local level.