OLDHAM COUNTY — Soon, middle and high school students in Oldham County will be back in-person five days a week. That's what elementary students in the district have been doing all year, but middle and high school students have been on a hybrid model, only coming certain days of the week and learning online the other days. 

That change will happen on April 12, right after Oldham County Schools' spring break. Superintendent Greg Schultz said he thinks bringing students back full-time is the best way to serve them.

“The A-B hybrid model has allowed us to get to this point. To be honest with you, if our numbers were back like they were in January, we wouldn’t even be considering this. Our numbers have dropped dramatically. We are not seeing the cases we were seeing earlier in the year. Our teachers have been vaccinated, which affects quarantine status,” Schultz said. 

This isn't the only district in the area making the switch. In fact, this is the first week Hardin County elementary and middle school students are back in-person five days per week. To get some perspective, the Kentucky School Boards Association (KSBA) reports 155 of Kentucky's 171 school districts, which are shown in blue on this map, will be back four or five days a week by the end of March. Even some of the others highlighted in orange will be back in April, just after the date set for this KSBA map.

Even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relaxed social distancing guidance in elementary schools from 6 feet to 3 feet, Schultz said six feet will be maintained at all his schools during lunch. 

“We have to make sure we maintain that six foot lunch. That’s a non-negotiable while we are unmasked. During the day, kids will be anywhere from 3-6 feet apart and masked up. Our kids have been tremendous all year round. That has not been a problem,” Schultz said.

Another challenge for many districts looking to return full-time is the bus driver shortage. 

“This will not be an unusual thing, but there may be some backup with buses. We always try to recruit bus drivers. If you are looking for a job, please come to us. We will put you on a bus and train you," Schultz said. "You will see some early and late runs at the secondary level. That is not untraditional. We typically have to do that, but we did not have to do that this year on the A-B. If people will just be patient as we work through the transportation bugaboos as we always have, I think they’ll find it to be pretty much like the before the pandemic time as far as having kids in school.”

Oldham County families got to pick whether or not they want their student to learn in-person or online. About 85% picked the in-person option, while 15% decided to stick with the Virtual Learning Academy through the end of the year. That will also help maintain distance at school once the students that picked in-person return five days per week.