Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear pleaded with schools on Wednesday not to violate his mandate to delay instruction in individuals until Sept. 28 if cases of coronavirus continue to climb in the state.
While announcing the state’s highest one-day total of new COVID-19 cases at a news conference, Beshear said he does not “believe we gamble or experiment with our children.”
“While we are desperate to get our kids back, I also want it to work,” he said.
The governor announced Monday a delay in instruction in person, including reasons to refer an uptick in cases involving children.
“At my very core, I want us to return to instruction for individuals, but to ask our children to engage with all of our teachers and faculty at a time that is not safe, it is something we can not do from them. ask, and I’m not ready, “Beshear said earlier this week, according to the Courier-Journal.
On Wednesday, the state registered 1,163 new cases, including 39 in children under five. The governor also cited outbreaks elsewhere in the Southeast at schools open for personal instruction, saying Kentucky needs time to learn from the mistakes of other states.
But in an open letter posted on Facebook on Tuesday, some Republican state senators criticized his “one size fits all” model and said local superintendents should get it to decide how to teach their students.
“More than 100 local school districts were not given a chance to see if their personal model might work,” the group of six senators wrote. “Surveys were made, input was provided, and plans were developed only to see a ‘recommendation’ in principle angle those superintendents in a box.”
Beshear said it is unlikely to close schools that do not follow his order unless there is a massive outbreak.
As a father himself, he said he wished children would go back to school, but he said it still did not feel safe.
“All we are currently asking is one month to make no mistakes with the health of our children, their parents or teachers,” he said Wednesday.
