Anderson Co. schools paying teachers to get vaccinated, but one board member incorrectly calls vaccines 'experimental drugs'

Editor's note: None of the three vaccines approved for use in the U.S. are experimental. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been permanently licensed, and the Moderna vaccine has applied for a license. It and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are approved by federal agencies for use in the pandemic emergency. Worldwide, 3.7 billion people have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine and nearly 2.8 billion are fully vaccinated.

By Christian Marnon
The Anderson News

Anderson County Public Schools employees who are fully vaccinated or become vaccinated for the coronavirus by Dec. 1 are now eligible for a one-time $100 payment.

In a 4-1 vote, the Anderson County School Board approved that option during a special-called meeting last Wednesday evening.

Supt. Sheila Mitchell said after the meeting that booster shots are presently “not included in the structure,” adding that funds for the incentive will be reimbursed by the state Department of Education and federal coronavirus relief funds.

Anderson County (Wikipedia map)

During discussion of the motion among the school board, member Peggy Peach said she could not endorse “experimental drugs.”

“When people are paid to try experimental drugs, it’s called a drug study,” she said. “In the case of these vaccines, there’s no one taking responsibility for the side effects or long-term effects down the road. I vote no to this.”

Peach also cautioned about liability. “If you pay someone to do this, you’re going to be responsible,” she said.

Board member Rose Morgan parried that the incentive should be doubled. “I think we should add another $100,” she said.

Board member Scott Brown said he partially aligned with Peach’s argument, but nevertheless said the option should be available for those who want it. “I don’t think it would be a big impact on our district,” he said.

Board Chairman James Sargent approved the motion and endorsed vaccination: “I think we ought to encourage vaccination, that’s my thought.”

Anderson County has a relatively high vaccination rate; 62% of its people have received at least one dose of vaccine, just above the statewide percentage, and 56% are fully vaccinated.

Beshear strongly recommends in-school masking; coronavirus infections and Covid-19 cases in ICUs have doubled in 10 days

Kentucky Health News graph from initial, unadjusted daily reports; to enlarge, click on it.

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Gov. Andy Beshear issued what he called "strong recommendations" Monday for all students and teachers not vaccinated against the coronavirus to wear masks during the upcoming school year, and said schools that want to "optimize safety" should have all students and employees wear masked. 

“If we truly want as many in-person classroom days [as possible], these are steps that school districts will need to take,” Beshear said at a news conference. He said school officials' decisions should be driven by "what gives us the best chance to have our kids in school the maximum number of days in the midst of a pandemic? That is it, folks; that should be our North Star." 

The mask guidance specifically pointed to children under 12 because they are not able to be vaccinated yet. Beshear said he expects vaccines will be available to them in the fall or winter. 

Asked if his recommendations will become mandates if the surge in virus cases continues, Beshear said that nothing is off of the table.  

"I'm not gonna take anything off the table when it comes to the health of our people," he said, adding that he expects school districts will do the right thing if there are outbreaks, as they have in the past. 

Asked about the politics of this decision, Beshear said, "This is a moment where we need the courage of some really great elected officials out there: superintendents, board members." Superintendents are chosen by school board members.

"We're not asking all that much when you look at keeping kids in school and protecting them, and we need the buy-in from those local school districts. . . .  And yes, that may mean that you've got to go through some tough school-board meetings, but it's the right thing to do. That's what you signed up for." 

Education Commissioner Jason Glass also called for the courage and leadership by educators to follow the governor's guidance: "We need to call again upon your professionalism and dedication to continue many of those same mitigation efforts from this past spring to keep our schools open and safe for in-person learning."

Jefferson County Public Schools Supt. Marty Pollio said he would recommend to his board Tuesday that it require universal masking, and WLKY-TV reported that four of the seven members agree with him.

Ten days ago, the state recommended that people who aren't fully vaccinated wear masks in schools, and that use of masks by everyone should be considered in schools that have students who can't be vaccinated, low vaccination rates, or "inability to monitor the vaccine status of students and/or teachers and staff."

Now, rather than talking about knowledge of vaccination status, the state has shifted to testing. It is offering a federally funded testing program for grades K-12. The voluntary program is being offered in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and it will be up to schools on how to use it.

Kentucky Health News graph from state data; to enlarge, click on it.

Daily numbers: The recommendations come as every metric used to measure the coronavirus in Kentucky is worsening, including cases, positivity rate, hospitalizations, intensive care and ventilator use.  

The state reported 783 new virus cases Monday, bringing the seven-day rolling average to 886, more than double what it was 10 days ago. The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus is 7.89%. In the state's Monday-to-Sunday reporting weeks, those rates have risen four weeks in a row. 

Kentucky hospitals reported 486 patients with Covid-19, more than double the number of 12 days ago; 159 are in intensive care, a number that has more than doubled in 10 days; and 71 of those are on a ventilator, a number that has more than doubled in eight days.

Dept. for Public Health map, relabeled; to enlarge, click on it. 

Also doubling in the last 10 days is the state's seven-day infection rate; it is now 18.27 per 100,000 people. Counties with more than double that rate are Clay, 64.6; Letcher, 50.4; Floyd, 50.2; Webster, 49.7; Jackson, 48.2; Muhlenberg, 46.7; Allen, 44.9; Washington, 44.9; Laurel. 44.4; Hopkins, 40.3; and Whitley, 37.

In the last two weeks, the state's daily case average has increased 180%, the 12th fastest among the states, according to The New York Times.

Since July 1, Stack said, weekly case numbers and positive-test rate have quintupled and hospitalizations, intensive-care admissions and ventilator use have tripled. He said health-care providers are already exhausted and that from their view "This is entirely a preventable tragedy." since vaccines are available. 

Vaccinations: As virus cases have surged, vaccinations have increased, but only slightly. In the reporting week that ended Sunday, Kentucky averaged 6,766 vaccinations a day, 15% more than the week before, according to CDC data compiled by The Washington Post.

The state says 2.3 million Kentuckians have received at least one dose of a vaccine, 51.5% of the population; 45.3% have been fully vaccinated. Of those 12 and older, 60.4% have received at least one dose.

The lowest vaccination rates rates continue to be among Kentuckians under 50, with those 40-49 hovering at 52%. "We all need to do better," Beshear said. 

Stack displayed an updated version of a graph showing that unvaccinated Kentuckians are almost five times as likely as their vaccinated counterparts to get infected:

Dept. for Public Health graph shows cases declined as vaccinations increased, until the stronger Delta variant became dominant and caused infections in some people who had been vaccinated.

He also stressed the safety of the vaccines in the face of several myths: "Let me be very, very clear. There is no debate here, there's no two sides of the story here, there is fact, and there is fallacy . .. They do not damage your fertility . . . There are no magnets in these vaccines. . . .  Those persons peddling in those falsehoods are killing people, and it is a tragedy. These vaccines work. They are safe." 

Beshear says Ky. faces character test in suppressing virus so schools can open safely on his Sept. 28 date; some go ahead

Graph illustrates previously reported new weekly high in new coronavirus cases.
State graph, adapted by Kentucky Health News; for a larger version, click on it

This story has been updated.

By Mary Meehan and Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Gov. Andy Beshear continued to implore Kentuckians to wear masks and keep their distance so all schools can safely resume in-person instruction Sept. 28, the date he has recommended.

During his daily briefing Monday, Beshear repeatedly referred to the battle against the novel coronavirus as a chance to define the character of the state and its people.

“What type of character do we show right now? Do we make the hard decisions? You know, my faith teaches me that doing the right thing is supposed to be hard,” he said, adding a bit later, “I believe that our character as Kentuckians is second to none, but it’s time we step up and prove it.”

Beshear announced 376 new cases of the virus, including 54 under the age of 18 – one way he reminds his audience of the risks of opening schools to in-person instruction at a time when the share of Kentuckians testing positive for the coronavirus in the last seven days: 5.8 percent. A rate above 5% is problematic, health experts say.

He noted 17 new cases in Warren County, where the county school board was preparing to voted 3-2 on the issue Monday evening to stick with in-person classes starting Aug. 24, with students alternatively attending two days a week. One Warren case was a 16-year-old, presumably a high-school-student.

“We have had so many individuals under 18 in Warren County test positive,” he said. “This is the number-two county that the White House [Coronavirus Task Force] is concerned about. The White House believes they have over a 10 percent positivity rate. I hope and pray that Warren County will do the work, just like we are, wearing these facial coverings and making good decisions to make sure that we are wise, that we promote public health and safety.”

Beshear said a decline in cases should be apparent before children are sent back to in-person classes. He reiterated that a delay gives Kentucky a chance to learn what has and hasn’t worked in other states, noting that one Georgia school district has quarantined more than 1,000 students.

“I don’t want to experiment with our kids,” he said, “and there are things we can learn from every day from states with schools that are open.”

Some school districts are disregarding Beshear’s recommendation. Green County opened as scheduled Monday, and the Kentucky School Boards Association said it appears to be the first public district to reopen to in-person learning, report Valarie Honeycutt Spears and Bill Estep of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

“Green County Supt. Will Hodges said that of the district’s 1,700 students, 80.69 percent opted to attend classes in person and 19.31 percent decided to begin school online,” they write. “Most parents had told the district they wanted their children in the classroom rather that online, Hodges said.” He told the Herald-Leader that the school system set out standards for protecting students and staff based on the level of active cases in the community, and students are being encouraged, but not required, to wear masks throughout the day when it isn’t possible to keep six feet away from others.

University of Kentucky students returned to class Monday.
(Photo by Silas Walker, Lexington Herald-Leader)

Beshear said he would announce Tuesday how the state will deal with virus outbreaks in schools. He said state and local school officials and local health departments need to keep families informed of cases in their school while protecting the privacy of individuals. “We have got to make sure that we don’t rely on just a health department talking to a family,” he said.

And to make sure it’s safe for all schools to teach students in person on Sept. 28, “We’ve got to do everything we can,” Beshear said. “If we come together, if we wear the face coverings, we follow the guidelines, we can get it done.”

Health Commissioner Steven Stack warned that crucial supplies are becoming harder to procure, which may cause the state to regress in an area where it has done well, the amount of testing. Politico reports that such shortages are even greater at smaller and poorer hospitals and medical facilities across the country, Tucker Doherty reports.

Stack said, “The demand for the tests continues to grow more quickly than the resources to provide the tests. So we are likely to be at some kind of plateau in number of tests for a while, but it’s going to be a challenge just to maintain the plateau because a lot of other states are going to compete now more intensely to try to get these resources.”

​In other covid-19 news Monday:

• The state reported five new covid-19 deaths Monday, raising its toll to 818. They were an 84-year-old man from Boyd County; a 91-year-old man from Calloway County; an 87-year-old woman from Franklin County; a 63-year-old man from Henry County; and a 75-year-old woman from Oldham County.
• New-case numbers on Mondays are often relatively low, as testing labs catch up from the weekend. Counties with more five new coronavirus cases were Jefferson, 124; Fayette, 51; Madison, 20; Warren, 17; Oldham, 9; Campbell, 7; and Christian, Franklin, Kenton, and Scott, with 6 each.
• Lexington-Fayette County Health Department spokesperson Kevin Hall explained how it will handle complaints that Beshear’s mask mandate isn’t being enforced. “When we receive a complaint, we respond to the facility (typically within 48-72 hours) to observe and to talk with management. We try to provide education and information, particularly since this is still fairly new to people. If we see signs of violations, we issue a notice and follow up in five days. At the follow-up visit, if they continue to show signs of violations, a citation will be issued. They begin at $50, then $75 on the second and $100 for each additional.”
  
• University of Kentucky students returned to spaced-out classrooms, masks and hand sanitizer in the vending machines, Rick Childress reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The local health department reported that at least 240 students had tested positive and are quarantining in the county. That number does not include students who may choose to isolate outside the county.
• UK reported a scam text message that told recipients, “you tested POSITIVE for COVID-19” and telling them to quarantine for 14 days and get three negative test results before returning to in-person classes. A UK official wrote, “UK Health Corps will never alert someone of a positive test result via text message or email.” 
• The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill said Monday that it will pivot to all-remote instruction for undergraduates after three residence halls and a fraternity house reported clusters of coronavirus cases in the first week of the fall term, Nick Anderson reports for The Washington Post. "After only one week of campus operations, with growing numbers of clusters and insufficient control over the off-campus behavior of students (and others), it is time for an off-ramp," the dean of public health said.
• Chris Quintana reports for USA Today on some of the financial reasons that are driving universities to open. 
• The state and UK HealthCare plan to offer free drive-up coronavirus testing at two sites beginning Aug. 24. One site will be on the far southern edge of campus; the other will be on the grounds of Eastern State Hospital, on UK’s Coldstream Research Campus on Newtown Pike near Interstates 64 and 75. An appointment is necessary to get a test. People can register at: lexington.wildhealth.com. The sites will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week.
• Mark Carter, who runs the program to track down and notify Kentuckians who have been exposed to people infected with the virus, will talk about its purpose and importance, and misconceptions about it, in a Zoom webinar for the University of Louisville Trager Institute at 10 a.m. Aug. 18. Here is the Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/884298617. 
• Stat reports on what we know about the virus, seven months into the pandemic, and what questions remain. They write about covid-19 and kids; the safest settings; why some people test positive for the virus long after they recover, and if it matters; covid's lingering effects among "long-haulers;" vaccine development; what it means to be asymptomatic; transmission through surfaces; immunity; mutations of the virus; and why some people get sick from it and some don't. 
• People infected with the virus do not necessarily have immunity for three months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an Aug. 16 update, stating, "At this time, we do not know if someone can be re-infected." While people can test positive for up to three months after diagnosis and not be infectious, that doesn't mean they are immune from getting it again during that time, CDC said.

Beshear tries to jawbone uncooperative school districts into following his recommendation, noting 785 new cases today

Kentucky Health News chart; daily figures are adjusted slightly after initial report.

By Melissa Patrick and Al Cross 

Kentucky Health News

Even after reporting a record number of cases yesterday, and an above-average number today, Gov. Andy Beshear said the addition of 785 more cases likely won't push the state into an exponential increase this week, similar to what the state was seeing just a few weeks ago. 

"It means that wearing a facial covering is working, other steps are working," Beshear said. "But we need you to stick with it, and we cannot make decisions that are ultimately going to cause a significant spread right now because that's going to make everything we want to do that much harder."

Beshear spoke as some school districts are beginning in-person instruction, contrary to his recommendation that they delay it until Sept. 28, and he called out some of them.

More than once, he pointed to Warren County, a coronavirus hotspot, where the county and Bowling Green districts are planning to open schools Aug. 24. The districts' boards are to meet Friday and Monday, respectively. Aaron Mudd reports for the Bowling Green Daily News.

Beshear pointed out that school-aged children accounted for six of the 29 new cases in Warren County today, and in the last three weeks, 86 children in the county had tested positive, though children aren't tested as often as adults.

"That is incredibly concerning, and I hope that in making decisions we would see that county . . . ultimately reach good decisions where we are patient enough to make those good plans to reopen our schools work at a time when they can work."

Beshear noted that the White House Coronavirus Task Force considers Warren the second hottest county in Kentucky for uncontrolled spread of the virus, with a positive-test rate of 10% or more.

He also pointed to Hardin County, where six of 21 new cases today were school-aged children. The county school board voted 4-1 in Elizabethtown Wednesday evening to allow in-person instruction to resume starting Aug. 24, Shellie Sylvestri reports for Louisville's WAVE-TV. The schools will also offer online learning. 

Lexington Christian Academy, a private school in Fayette County with more than 1,100 students, also plans to open with in-person learning next week, Valarie Honeycutt Spears reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Parents in Madison County said in a poll that they wanted schools to open on schedule, but after an "emergency" session with state officials, the school board voted Thursday night to delay opening until Sept. 2 and no mandate in-person instruction until Sept. 28, WKYT-TV reports: "School board members said after an emergency meeting with officials of the Kentucky Department of Education, they felt like their hands were tied."

Beshear said many more Kentucky children could be positive for the virus since young people are often not tested. "We are seeing an explosion of positive tests amongst our young people," he said. "Let's make sure that the decisions we make set us up for actual success and don't set us back as a state, and as I've said before let's not experiment with the health of our children." 

About 40 percent of people with coronavirus infections have no symptoms, but can still spread the virus. Beshear mentioned a report that shows nationwide, about 100,000 children tested positive for the virus during the last couple weeks of July. 

And to those who say that the virus only harms people of a certain age, making it safe to send children back to school, Beshear stressed that children can spread the disease to their teachers, staff and caretakers, who are often grandparents. Also, he said, the greater the exposure, the more opportunity kids have for a bad outcome, and the long-term ramifications of the virus are still unknown.

Some school superintendents said this week that they don't have access to county-level positivity rates to help them make re-opening decisions. Asked about that, Beshear said county-level rates in many small counties would have a large margin of error due to lack of testing, but acknowledged that a regional look, using data from several adjoining counties, might work.

However, he added that Dr. Deborah Birx, the task force's response coordinator, told him during her recent visit to Kentucky that because the state had half its counties in the task force's danger zones, this was a statewide problem that needed statewide steps. The latest report shows that 13 counties are in the red zone and 34 are in the yellow zone.

"I believe overall where we are in the state right now," he said, "just about any school district is going to have a real challenge."

Health Commissioner Steven Stack displayed a graph of Georgia's and Kentucky's cases over time, which he said shows how Kentucky's "measured and phased" approach has allowed Kentucky to flatten its case curve, compared to the exponential increase in cases in Georgia, which nevertheless opened schools this month.

Chart from divoc-91.com website, displayed by Health Commissioner Stack

“I think what we see is that the mask mandate is what impacted and has hopefully flattened that curve, and we'll see as this week ends where our totals fall," Stack said, adding that there has much debate about masks in Georgia and "I think they are seeing the consequences of not following that simple public health guidance, to use these masks." 

He displayed several slides of news coverage about schools in Georgia, showing rapid case escalation during the first week of re-opening in one school; another school that had 59 new cases, resulting in a two week quarantine for 925 students and staff; and another that had to close because of the virus. He then shared similar stories from a charter school in Louisiana and another in Indiana. 

"So just to avoid any lack of certainty, I very much support the decision that the governor made," Stack said. "I also am cognizant of the many trade-offs that there are with delaying schools. We need to get the kids back to school, but we need to get kids back to school safely." 

He stressed that the state's case numbers are still at an all-time high, and that the White House guidance is to take aggressive action to reduce the risk of transmission -- and unfortunately schools are places with a high risk of transmission. 

"I am hopeful as we have done along this journey, we will learn lessons from these other places that have done this earlier than us," Stack said.

CNN reports that over 2,000 students and teachers have been placed under quarantine in the few reopened districts in several states. Of those, there are at least 230 positive cases. The governor has asked Kentucky schools to hold off opening for another month to learn from the mistakes of  other states that have already moved forward with reopening their schools to in-person learning.

Stack said it's especially important to get an influenza vaccination now, to limit the number of hospital beds used by flu victims at a time when they may be needed by covid-19 patients. He added that the guidelines for preventing the spread of both viruses are the same.

Beshear, asked about Black activists in Louisville saying that it would be inappropriate and insensitive to hold the Kentucky Derby while Attorney General Daniel Cameron's investigation of the police killing of Breonna Taylor is pending, Beshear said, "It's been 150 days. Surely there will be a resolution by that point." The race has been reset for Sept. 5. 

Beshear said he hoped that the activists and organizers of Derby events could work together "to convey the right message." Asked if he will attend the race and present its trophy, he said he has to see Churchill Downs' specific plan for him before making a decision.

Asked if he had the power to order businesses to not accept money from customers who are not wearing masks, Beshear did not answer directly, but said his various executive orders effectively require businesses to do that, and that is what they should do: refuse service to the unmasked. 

Daily numbers: The 785 new cases reported today raises the seven-day rolling average to 654, second only to the 668 recorded July 19-25. 

The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the coronavirus over the last seven days was 5.67 percent, slightly under the average for the week. "We need to see a significant reduction in that rate," Beshear said. 

The state reported six more deaths from covid-19, raising the toll to 785. The fatalities were a 56-year-old man from Carter County, a 74-year-old man from Taylor County, an 80-year-old woman from Fayette County, and from Jefferson County, two women 82 and 89, and a man, 92. 

In other covid-19 news Thursday:

• Counties with more than five new cases were Jefferson, 189; Fayette, 61; Warren, 29; Kenton, 25; Clay, 23; Barren, Hardin and Madison, 21 each; Pulaski, 20; Bullitt, 18; Nelson, 16; Franklin and McCracken, 15 each; Calloway, 13; Daviess and Green, 12 each; Logan and Shelby, 11 each; Campbell, 10; Boone, Floyd, Graves, Laurel and Owen, 9 each; Knox, Magoffin and Scott, 8 each; Christian, Johnson Russell and Spencer, 7 each; and McCreary and Taylor, 6 each. 
• Beshear noted the relatively high number of new cases in Green, a county of 11,000 people. With that population, it takes only 11 cases in a week to get into the "red zone" of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and it had more than that in one day. 
• Hospitalizations in Kentucky for covid-19 declined slightly, to 658, with 140 of those in intensive care and 98 of the ICU patients on ventilators. Beshear recently began giving the ventilator count, which is not part of the state's daily report. 
• Beshear reported that seven more child-care facilities had at least one coronavirus case among staff or children, raising the total to 131. Most cases, 102, are among staffers; 87 are among children. 
• On Monday, Beshear reported 123 child-care facilities have disclosed coronavirus infections for 96 staff and 82 children. John Cheves of the Herald-Leader lists them. The state provides a frequently asked question page for childcare centers on kycovid19.ky.gov.
• Asked about President Trump's objections to financial aid for the Postal Service in the next relief bill, Beshear said it was "not just silly but dangerous" to discuss "defunding the post office" in the midst of an election. Trump said Democrats want the money to facilitate mail-in balloting, which he claims (without evidence) will be subject to fraud.
• Buddy Forbes reports for Hazard's WYMT-TV a story in Johnson County about Darrell McCoy who said he thought covid-19 was a hoax and all about politics, and had been going about his business without a mask, shaking hands and holding in-person meetings. That changed after he was diagnosed with the virus, and his new message is to encourage everyone to wear a mask. “I was the one that, you know, was like 90 percent of the people in the mountains here. I refused to wear a mask; I wasn’t gonna change my way of life. I thought that it was all a hoax,” he said. “But I’m telling you, guys. This thing is real. And if you think that it can’t touch your family, just wait.”  
• In new guidance released Thursday, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised that face coverings can be worn safely by children over the age of 2, including the vast majority of children with underlying health conditions, with rare exceptions. "Just like children understand that they must wear bicycle helmets and buckle into their car seats, they will come to learn to wear masks routinely when necessary," AAP President Dr. Sally Goza said in a news release. She added, "As parents prepare to send their children to school and into childcare settings, cloth face coverings should be part of their new normal." New guidance from the White House for schools only encourages the use of masks when social distancing is not possible. 
• Looking for a coronavirus test in Lexington? Karla Ward of the Herald-Leader provides a list of sites, along with hours of operation and whether an appointment is necessary. Kycovid19.ky.gov also provides a list of 243 testing locations across the state that can be located by county.
• One way to make your home safer from the coronavirus is to crack a window and to be even more effective, put a box fan in that window, Mitchell Willetts reports for McClatchy. “The safest indoor space is one that constantly has lots of outside air replacing the stale air inside,” Shelly Miller, mechanical engineering professor at the University of Colorado, wrote in an essay for The Conversation. “Simply put, the more fresh, outside air inside a building, the better. Bringing in this air dilutes any contaminant in a building, whether a virus or a something else, and reduces the exposure of anyone inside.”
• "Across the United States, at least 200,000 more people have died than usual since March, according to a New York Times analysis of estimates from the CDC. This is about 60,000 higher than the number of deaths that have been directly linked to the coronavirus," Denise Lu reports. During the pandemic, Lu reports, Kentucky's excess deaths peaked during the week of July 5. 
• During late June, a CDC report found that 40.9% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance use associated with covid-19. 

2017 sees a sharp drop in the number of Kentucky school districts implementing 100 percent tobacco-free school policies

Nov. 16, 2017 correction: This story has been edited to reflect that 12 school districts passed 100 percent smoke-free laws in 2016, not 16. 

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Only two school districts have passed 100 percent smoke-free school policies in Kentucky this year, compared to 16 12 in 2016, perhaps because they are waiting to see if the state will require such action.

"Sometimes when the state legislature takes things on, local officials kind of wait and see if the state's going to do it," Ellen Hahn, director of the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy, said in an interview. "We've noticed that, actually, with local smoke-free ordinances, that when the state took it on, people just kind of waited. So, that could be why."

A bill in the 2016 legislative session would have required all Kentucky schools to be 100 percent tobacco-free. It passed quickly out of the Senate, but couldn't garner enough support in the House to bring it to a floor vote.

Sen. Ralph Alvarado of Winchester, who sponsored the legislation, said in an e-mail that he plans to sponsor the bill again in the upcoming session and anticipates that a similar one will be introduced in the House, where his fellow Republicans gained control this year.

"Kentucky has the worst youth smoking rate in the country," Alvarado said in an email. "With all of our current research, everyone is now keenly aware of the devastating health impacts and societal cost of tobacco use. If we hope to reduce the financial burden and promote the healthiest lifestyles for our children, it will have to begin by setting the best examples in our schools."

Almost 17 percent of Kentucky's high-school students are smokers and 23 percent of the report using electronic cigarettes, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The organization also reports that 3,200 children become new daily smokers each year.

Elizabeth Anderson-Hoagland, a youth tobacco policy specialist with the state Department for Public Health, said she encourages local school districts to pass 100 percent tobacco-free school policies, regardless of what happens at the state level.

"When school districts work on tobacco-free policies at the local level, they can increase community engagement, create buy-in with parents and families, and ultimately help with policy compliance," she said in an email. "A 100% Tobacco-Free School policy is an important way for school districts to protect youth from the effects of secondhand smoke while role modeling smoke-free lifestyles."

Schools are considered 100 percent tobacco-free if they don't allow tobacco products, including vapor products and alternative nicotine products, by staff, students and visitors at any time on school owned property and during school sponsored events.

As of July 2017, just over half of Kentucky's public school students were in school districts with tobacco-free policies: 64 of the 173 districts, covering 681 Kentucky schools. Many districts still need to update their policy to meet new standards for vapor products and e-cigarettes.

Owen County just passed what looks like a 100 percent tobacco-free school policy, but it is still in the process of being verified.

"We want our community to be healthier, and if we all agree that being 100 percent tobacco-free starting in schools, where we have children who are looking at adults and sometimes doing what adults do -- that with education, hopefully, we can prevent that tobacco use from becoming an issue," Owen County Schools Director of District Wide Programs Joretta Crowe told The News-Herald of Owenton.

Most Kentuckians support such policies. According to the 2015 Kentucky Health Issues Poll, 85 percent of Kentucky adults favor tobacco-free schools.

Hoagland said the 100 Percent Tobacco Free School website offers resources for school districts interested in implementing such policies, including success stories from Warren County and Russell County.

"These success stories show that tobacco-free is possible no matter how large or small your school district," she said. "Additionally, support from your local health department will really make a difference, such as trainings for school personnel on the impact of secondhand smoke exposure to smoking cessation classes for interested staff."

Oldham County aims to have a nurse in every public school

Most public schools in Kentucky don't have a full-time nurse to serve students, and school districts have struggled recently with the issue.

In Oldham County, though, the school board voted Aug. 28 to add seven more nurses, which would put one at 17 of the county's 19 public schools, Travis Ragsdale reports for Louisville's WDRB. Supt. Carolyn Wosoba "said the plan is to hire the other two during the 2018-19 school year."

"Oldham County nurses are split amongst different school campuses but cover multiple schools," Ragsdale notes. "According to the Kentucky School Nurses Association, only 44 percent of public schools in the commonwealth retain a full-time nurse for students."

Ragsdale reports, "Oldham County has 1,679 students with chronic health conditions including but not limited to asthma, seizures, and tracheostomy."

More students eat lunch and breakfast at schools where number of 'food vulnerable' students qualifies all for free meals

Students eat breakfast (U.S. Department of Agriculture photo)

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

A program that offers free meals to all students using federal money has increased lunch and breakfast participation at many schools in Kentucky, but may come under renewed threat in Congress.

The Community Eligibility Program, part of the 2010 Hunger-Free Kids Act, allows schools with more than 40 percent of students qualifying as "food-vulnerable" to offer free meals to every student.

The latest schools to report that the program has more students eating breakfast and lunch are Glasgow High School and the Berea Independent Schools.

Glasgow has seen a 5 percent increase in lunch participation and a 13 percent increase in breakfast participation since December 2015, Jackson French reports for the Bowling Green Daily News.

Before the school joined the Community Eligibility Program, it would provide meals to any student who wanted them even if they couldn't pay on that day, but would place a charge for the meal on the student's account to be paid later.

Principal Keith Hale told French that the program reduces financial burdens on families who struggle to pay for food and also allows students to eat healthier, because healthier foods are often costlier.

This is also the first school year that the Berea schools have participated in the program, Ricki Barker reports for the Richmond Register.

“We are serving approximately 60 more breakfasts and 80 more lunches a day compared to last year,” Supt. Mike Hogg told board members at their January meeting. He added that the school is serving about 1,000 more additional meals to students than they have in the past.

“If you are hungry, then you are not at your optimal learning potential,” Hogg said. “With the program we can feed more students and we know that those students are fed and ready to learn each day.”

This program is one that could be altered in the new Congress by Republicans who have long had issues with the 2010 law, the centerpiece of Michelle Obama's eight years as first lady.

Kentucky Health News reported in May that House Republicans had introduced a bill to raise the program's qualifying threshold to 60 percent. The bill passed out of committee but died for lack of action.

According to the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the change could affect more than 350 Kentucky schools, because only 441 of the 804 schools currently eligible for the program would qualify under the 60 percent guideline.

Just over half of Ky. students are in schools with 100% tobacco-free policies; Warren, Russell county districts share successes

The state Department of Public Health has created videos to showcase the success of two Kentucky school districts in becoming 100 percent tobacco-free schools in hopes of encouraging other school districts to do the same. So far, 35 percent of Kentucky's school districts and 51 percent of the state's students are covered by such policies.

“School districts want to hear from their peers and hear from colleagues who have gone through the process already,” Elizabeth Anderson-Hoagland, youth policy analyst with the Kentucky Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program, said in a news release. “By demonstrating that others have successfully adopted the policy and experienced positive results, we are able to encourage more school administrators to consider going tobacco free.”

The videos are of Russell County Public Schools, which approved its tobacco-free policy in July 2014 and Warren County Public Schools, which passed its policy in April 2015.

Warren County  Supt. Rob Clayton said in the release that a tobacco-free policy "fit perfectly into our core values, one of those being to ensure student and staff safety." Russell County Supt. Michael Ford said the decision to become tobacco-free was part of a "conscientious stance which favors better health for our youth and, I believe, readies them for the modern day workforce."

Kentucky has room for celebration and for concern when it comes to its teen smoking rates.

According to the 2015 Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Kentucky's teen cigarette smoking rate is at a historic low, dropping nearly 10 percentage points over the past decade to 16.9 percent from 26.2 percent. However, this is still the third-highest teen-smoking rate in the nation, following West Virginia at 18.8 percent and Iowa at 18.1 percent  The national rate is 10.8 percent.

The survey also found that 23.4 percent of Kentucky's teens use electronic vapor products, near the national average of 24.1 percent.

State health officials attribute the 10-year decrease, in part, to tobacco-free school policies, which encourage districts to create campus environments where tobacco and alternative nicotine products are strictly prohibited on all school property and during school-related trips 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Sixty Kentucky school districts, 646 schools and a little over half (51 percent) of the state's students are protected by comprehensive tobacco free policies.

Most Kentucky adults (85 percent) support 100 percent tobacco-free schools, including 89 percent of adults who have never smoked, 84 percent of former smokers and 80 percent of current smokers, according to the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll. 

Strongly enforced 100 percent tobacco free school policies can reduce youth smoking by up to 30 percent, says the release.

“We strongly encourage every school district to adopt 100 percent tobacco-free school policies,” Senior Deputy Health Commissioner Connie White said in the release. “Smoking, which is the leading cause of lung cancer, heart disease and a host of other chronic diseases, is one of the biggest public health challenges facing our state. We owe it to our young people to create healthy environments where they won’t be exposed to tobacco and its detrimental health effects. Not only will it create a healthier, safer learning environment, it will further decrease the chances of them becoming smokers.”

For more information call (502) 564-9358. The Russell County School District video can be found here: https://youtu.be/imkcxDXiugI The Warren County School District video can be found here: https://youtu.be/xQ6-kucZUVs.