KY Education Commissioner asking state for more NTI days
Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher
Fletcher will head a community meeting in Ashland tomorrow night @ Kentucky Educational Development Corporation, 904 West Rose Road, Ashland, 5-7 p.m. ET.
State Media
Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher is asking state legislators to grant school districts more Non-Traditional Instruction, or NTI, days to be able to use for at-home learning in situations such as inclement weather or other health or safety concerns.
The current law allows school districts to use up to 10 NTI days in a school year.
These NTI days count as instructional days and do not have to be made up at the end of the year.
Russell County is using NTI Day #6 today for the current school year.
Fletcher is reportedly asking the state legislature to allow an additional five NTI days this school year due to several districts using NTI days back in September as authorities searched for the suspect in the shootings along Interstate 75.
Lawmakers are scheduled to gavel back into session in Frankfort on February 4.
Lexington newspaper:
The Lexington Herald-Leader posted an in depth story:
…Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher plans to ask lawmakers for more non-traditional instruction, or at-home learning days, beyond the 10 allowed now. Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said Monday he is discussing the issue with superintendents to understand the problem.
“We understand the situation and will take it under consideration, if necessary. However, it goes without saying that students learn best in the classroom, where teachers have the best ability to reach them,” said House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect.
Fletcher made his strategy known in a recent webcast to school superintendents. In addition to the early January winter storms that dumped several inches of snow and ice on Kentucky, Fletcher noted some districts used NTI days when a search for a shooting suspect impacted areas of the region around I-75. Others used the days during hurricane-related weather and some for threats of gun violence.
Frank Shelton, a spokesperson for Knox County Schools, said Monday that his district had used all its NTI days. Just before 8 p.m. Monday, Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Demetrus Liggins said about Tuesday, “
Tomorrow will be a normal school schedule for FCPS.” Wolfe County School officials in a Facebook post said Tuesday would be its 10th NTI day. Menifee County Schools is using its sixth and seventh NTI days on Tuesday and Wednesday, a Facebook post said.
Clark County Schools, the district that adjoins Fayette County, called off in-person classes Tuesday and will have its fourth NTI day of the school year. Bourbon County Schools, another district that adjoins Fayette, will have a traditional snow day.
Kentucky School Boards Association officials said in a Jan. 16 post the January snowstorms have caused many districts to use multiple non-traditional instruction days and snow days to start the new year. That’s left many districts at or near the state-mandated limit of 10 NTI days per year.
Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article298847873.html#storylink=cpy
