In light of the recently released Kentucky Department of Public Health guidelines regarding K-12 COVID management, Henry County Public Schools has revised our policies to reflect those changes. Please remember that HCPS still requires masks on our buses and in our facilities, so please send your student to school with a mask each day. This requirement allows us to follow these new exposure and quarantine guidelines.

Also, please let us know about any positive COVID test results or exposures by notifying your school’s health services assistant, who can help you understand these guidelines and provide a return-to-school date for you or your student.

Henry County High School students will soon experience a new feature when they move through the cafeteria line at school.

Thanks to a grant from the Dairy Alliance, HCHS will become only the second school district in Kentucky to use bulk milk dispensers instead of individual milk cartons. HCPS was awarded a full grant for the equipment, which is valued at about $12,000.

Beginning Tuesday, Jan. 4, HCHS students will be able to choose white or chocolate milk, filling 8-ounce cups with the milk of their choice. Placing the machines at HCHS made the most sense to Anna Lusk, HCPS Director of School Nutrition.

“Some elementary students are still eating in their classrooms, and I didn’t think younger students could navigate the walk from the cafeteria back to their rooms with cups of milk on their trays,” Lusk said. “The high school affords us more space for the dispensers and I thought the older students could handle carrying their milk.”

Lusk said there had been complaints daily about bad tasting or smelly milk. Many times, the milk cartons are not sealed well, which leads to curdled, stinky milk.

“The milk for the dispensers comes in 5-gallon bags, which eliminate that problem,” Lusk said. “Also, the dispenser will ensure that the milk is kept at a very cold temperature. So, we’re happy to offer a better product for our students.”

Lusk hopes that offering this improved product in the cafeteria line for breakfast and lunch will increase student participation, and also put a nutritious option on more students’ trays.

In anticipation of the potential for bad weather this winter, Henry County Public Schools would like to explain what our policy will be this year with snow days.

Last year, we were routinely learning from home and did not have traditional snow days, but rather used Non-Traditional Instruction days (NTI) and kept learning from home rather than have snow days that would then need to be made up at the end of the school year.

Henry County Public Schools feels our best form of high-quality instruction is in-person for all students. Not all families have sound or consistent internet access or the necessary support at home to allow learning to continue virtually on a random snow day.

Right now, the last day of school for students should be Friday, May 20. This gives us the flexibility to call several snow days and make up those days at the end of our calendar while still finishing school before June. However, if we are experiencing a high number of snow days (think ice storm or several inches of snow) and it is hurting our educational momentum and/or the learning process, we will prepare students to learn at home. If that is the case, we are allowed to use up to 10 NTI days, which will not have to be made up.

We thank everyone for adapting and doing what was necessary during the winter of 2020-21 to keep school going. This year, a snow day is a snow day unless notified in advance. So, when that first accumulation comes rolling in and we are playing it safe with our students, staff, buses and facilities, have fun! Let your kids turn off that alarm, wrap up under some warm blankets and then build a snowman. They’ve earned it!