Thousands of students in eastern Kentucky who were supposed to start school this week will not be returning to the classroom on time. Nearly every district in the 13 counties that experienced recent flooding has pushed back the start of the school year.
Toni Konz Tatman is spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Education. Tatman said there are 18 school districts impacted by the flooding.
"We're looking at about 38,000 kids, students, who attend schools in those districts. About 7,000 staff members and a total of about 115 school buildings. So this is a really large, I mean, it's about 10% of our districts in the state,” said Tatman.
Tatman said the first part of the recovery is helping the community, students, teachers and staff who were affected by the devastating flooding.
“And then the second part is really trying to get back to school and getting the schools open as soon as possible, because the schools are a resource. And we want, many of our schools want our kids to come back and just try to get that that sense of normalcy back as soon as they can,” said Tatman.
The KDE has identified 13 school buildings that sustained severe damage. Tatman said buildings were not only flooded, in some cases exterior walls and roofs were also damaged.
Many school districts have pushed back the start of school. Tatman said in some cases, students will not be returning to their normal schools. Instead, they will be transported to other schools or facilities that can accommodate classroom instruction.
Tatman said it's too early to determine the monetary damages to the schools in eastern Kentucky.
The Kentucky Department of Education is holding meetings where school leaders can share school experiences, needs and solutions. The next meeting is Thursday afternoon at 1:30 and will be streamed online.
