Just over a week after announcing that Warren County Schools are closed for the remainder of the year, the Warren County Board of Education is preparing to vote on a last non-traditional instruction day for students, as well as working to create alternate options for senior traditions like graduation and field trips.

WCPS stated in an alert on its homepage on April 20 that “Per Governor Andy Beshear, WCPS will not return to in-person classes, nor have in-person activities. We have been given flexibility for calculating hours of instruction with NTI, therefore our board will meet to determine a last day for students, employees, and options for graduation. ” A newsletter and video released yesterday by Warren County Schools superintendent Rob Clayton announced that the virtual board meeting will take place tomorrow, April 30, at 6:00 pm to officially determine the last day students will have NTI work. Clayton has suggested May 8 as the last day of school, which would shorten the original school schedule by nearly two weeks.

In the video, he addressed this shorter year by saying that the Board has “tried to entertain any and all information available to us in regards to how the distance learning has impacted our students and their families.”

“We recognize that shortening the school year will be met with a variety of different opinions, but just please know that we’ve tried to strike the balance between those families who are continuing to struggle and those who would like us to finish throughout the remainder of the year,” Clayton says. “We’re confident that this strikes a balance and continues to provide those necessary services to our students.”

Clayton also said that the Board would attempt to hold in-person graduations if federal guidelines permit by the first week of August. The Board has repeatedly emphasized that they, as well as many graduating high school seniors, want to have an in-person ceremony if they are safely able to, even if that ceremony has to be pushed into the summer.

“From the beginning, our goal has been to recognize our seniors through an alternative ceremony at the end of May and through an in person ceremony once permitted under the CDC, federal, and Governor guidelines,” Clayton said in the newsletter.  “Out of respect for our seniors and their families, I find it important that we provide a time frame in which we would still consider an in person ceremony.”