On January 12th, 2022 Superintendent Demetrius Liggins uploaded a video regarding the new  COVID-19 protocols throughout Fayette County. Liggins mentioned the new recommendations for Fayette County issued by The Kentucky Department for Public Health. The board hopes these recommendations will reduce the amount of absent teachers and students out because of COVID-19. FCPS held a conference Friday morning about their new guidelines. The committee released the new COVID-19 protocols on Tuesday, January 18th. 

Liggins sent an email to FCPS families on January 14th, which showed the revisions of the COVID-19 Health and Safety document protocols. These protocols include students no longer having to quarantine if exposed, and contact tracing no longer being in effect. Masks will continue to be required, but that could change in the future. All staff and board members are continuing to analyze the updates of COVID-19 cases to monitor whether or not these protocols will change.  

One of the biggest changes to this policy is exposure without quarantine. If a student has been exposed to COVID-19 by a fellow peer, a letter will be handed out informing the student and family of the situation. If you are exposed you do not need to quarantine, but testing is recommended within five to seven days of exposure. If a student develops any symptoms after being exposed it is recommended to stay at home until you have been symptom free for at least 24 hours. 

The CDC has shown that the booster doses are 90% effective against hospitalization whereas unvaccinated people are 45% more likely to be hospitalized than those who have been double vaccinated and boosted. Only 40% of people who are eligible to get a booster shot have gotten one, though. This has caused problems at HC, and all schools across the United States, due to the amount of students that are unvaccinated. If students were required to get vaccinated and boosted the number of cases could potentially go down. 

If all Fayette County Schools switched to remote learning for a few weeks it could decrease the number of cases, making this semester safer for all students and staff.