LEXINGTON, Ky. — Some concerned parents in Fayette County are speaking out about frustrations they have with the school district's virtual learning model.


What You Need To Know

  • Fayette County parents share frustrations with virtual learning

  • Hundreds of parents join "Let Them Learn Fayette County" Facebook group

  • Parents plan peaceful protests

In less than three days, hundreds of parents and teachers have joined the "Let Them Learn Fayette County" Facebook group.

“The common theme here is parents want options, and they want something better, from an education standpoint, for their children,” said Facebook group moderator, Kristin VanDyke Childress

Greg Prince says he created the group as an online platform for himself and other parents to discuss back to school issues they have been experiencing.

"Some of the stories are shocking and very sad to be perfectly honest. I thought I was having a hard time and, compared to what's getting posted, my situation doesn't even compare. My heart goes out to those folks that are really struggling,” explained Prince.

Many of the posters in the group are sharing their personal experiences with system crashes, Chromebook issues, and Zoom links not working, just over a week into the NTI distance learning program.

“Imagine if we had 30 of us on here. And we were all kindergarteners. I mean, imagine that, and then imagine in the other room. I have a first-grader. 30 of them on another call on another Chromebook that crashes, if you've looked at our page of, you know, you can see the concerns. It's just, it's failing, and we got to do something about it,” explained parent Jamie Downs.

Many parents say they are hopeful that school leaders in Fayette County will step in to provide additional resources to families so that students and parents across the district do not get left behind when attempting to participate in the virtual learning model.

Thursday morning, Superintendent Manny Caulk, along with other school officials, participated in the Lexington Forum to address the issues.

“So we look at about four to six-week intervals. And in those four to six weeks intervals. And we’ll revisit the decision and see if we can open, we can educate more students, or we need to take a step back, right and do some virtual learning because of the rising COVID cases," he said.

Parents and teachers plan to organize a series of peaceful protests in front of Fayette County Public School's main office in downtown Lexington starting next week.