PIKEVILLE, Ky. — The Pike County School District has announced its plans for students to return to the classroom, as well as how the district will make up missed time.

In a letter to parents, Pike County Schools says it will now return to class on March 10, making three full weeks missed due to the flood, in addition to time missed due to snow and ice earlier in the school year. The district is also canceling spring break and will begin adding 30 minutes to each school day.

The additional time each day will not only allow the district to make up time more quickly, but it will also allow the district to take advantage of a bill currently in the legislature which appears headed toward passage.

Under state law, students are required to receive 1,062 hours of instruction over the course of 170 school days. House Bill 241 would allow the commissioner of education to waive up to five school days for districts that would not be able to provide the instructional time by June 4. However, districts that do not extend the instructional day are not eligible for the five-day waiver.

As it stands now, Pike County students are now scheduled to be in school until May 30 or June 2. However, that could change if additional days are missed.

A copy of the letter sent to parents is reprinted below:

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BELFRY, Ky. — Days after a Belfry High School teacher and coach resigned after he came under investigation for unspecified allegations, a second employee at the school has been suspended.

Pike County Schools Supt. Reed Adkins confirmed to Mountain Top News on Friday that the employee has been suspended, pending the outcome of that investigation. Adkins declined to name the employee at this time.

The situation has been the focus of intense comment and speculation on social media, where the individual has been named. However, Mountain Top News is not naming the individual without official confirmation.

On Tuesday, Mountain Top News reported that teacher and assistant football coach Nathan Coleman had been suspended, pending an investigation. That investigation appears to be ongoing, but Coleman has since resigned from the school district.

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BELFRY, Ky. — A Belfry High School teacher and assistant football coach has been suspended, while he is being investigated for unspecified allegations.

Supt. Reed Adkins confirmed the investigation into allegations against Nathan Coleman to Mountain Top News Tuesday afternoon.

Adkins could not disclose the nature of the allegations against Coleman, but said Pike County Schools is cooperating with Kentucky State Police and Commonwealth’s Attorney Bill Slone in the investigation.

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — The Pike County Board of Education approved delaying the start of the school year in the wake of flooding across the county.

Classes were originally scheduled to get underway Aug. 11, but have now been pushed back one week, to Aug. 18.

Widespread damage from flooding and the use of school facilities as shelters and distribution points played a factor in the decision.

The board will revisit the matter before the start of the school year to see if another delay is necessary.

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Pike County Board of Education, which sought to overturn a school mask mandate.

Mikey Ratliff, father of a Pike County student, and Levi Newsom filed the lawsuit against the board, Supt. Reed Adkins and school board members back in October. They alleged that the mandate that students wear face masks in class to combat COVID-19 was illegal and unconstitutional.

That mandate has since been rescinded, as case numbers have dropped sharply. U.S. District Judge Henry Wilhoit said that now makes the case moot, but he went one step further when issuing his dismissal. The judge also wrote that Ratliff and Newsom had not demonstrated any harm that the mandate could have caused.

The complaint has now been dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be re-filed.

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Both of Pike County’s public school systems are ending their mask mandates.

Both Pikeville Independent and Pike County Schools have announced their intention to allow the use of face masks to be optional.

Pike County Schools will end its mandate next Wednesday, Feb. 23.

Pikeville Independent will follow suit on Monday, Feb. 28.

Any student or staff member returning to school 6-to-10 days following a positive test of COVID must wear a mask through day 10. Pikeville Independent extends that requirement to students and staff members who returns from a household exposure to the virus. Students and staff members must be asymptomatic to return to school.

And as required by federal mandate, all passengers must wear masks while on school buses.

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A lawsuit filed against the Pike County Board of Education challenging its mask mandate could be dead on arrival.

A Pike County man, Levi Newsom, and a minor student represented by her parent, Mikey Ratliff, filed the complaint nearly two weeks ago, alleging that the mask mandate violates the U.S. Constitution and state and federal law.

Neither Newsom nor Ratliff are attorneys, and that could jeopardize their lawsuit.

As reported exclusively by Mountain Top News last week, Newsom’s and Ratliff’s complaint is one of at least 15 nearly identical lawsuits filed in Kentucky, Ohio, Texas and California over the past month. But five of those other lawsuits — three in Ohio and two in California — have now been dismissed, and several others have motions to dismiss pending.

Like the Pike County case, all of the other cases are by plaintiffs who are representing themselves and their minor children, and that’s the problem.

Federal courts have ruled that plaintiffs are free to represent themselves, but they cannot represent the interests of anyone else, even their minor children. That prohibition is intended to protect “the rights of those before the court by preventing an ill-equipped layperson from squandering the rights of the party he purports to represent,” the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2015.

At this time, there are no motions to dismiss the Pike County case, and the school board has not yet filed a response to the complaint.

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A lawsuit challenging Pike County Schools’ mask mandate was a prominent topic during a school board meeting Thursday evening. And Mountain Top News has uncovered evidence that the lawsuit is one of at least 15 identical cases filed across the country. Mountain Top News Reporter Joshua Slone has details.

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Two adults and a student have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to have the Pike County School District’s mask mandate declared unconstitutional and voided.

The student, identified only as “N.R.,” her parent, Mikey Ratliff, and Levi Newsom, who is identified as a resident and taxpayer in the Pike County School District, filed their complaint Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Pikeville. Court records indicate the plaintiffs are not represented by an attorney, but that Ratliff and Newsom are representing themselves.

The complaint alleges that the school system’s requirement for students to wear face masks is a violation of the U.S. Constitution and state and federal law, and claims that masks could potentially lead to adverse psychological, social and health effects.

The plaintiffs are also asking for a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the mask mandate. Their complaint also states that they are giving notice of their intention to seek removal proceedings against the defendants in state court.

A full copy of the complaint follows:

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — With cases of COVID-19 continuing to surge locally, Pike County Schools announced Friday that schools will move to non-traditional instruction from Sept. 7 to Sept. 10. There is no school Sept. 6, due to Labor Day.

Over the next week, students will be expected to complete assignments in the Canvas course management system.

This is just the latest measure undertaken by the district. Classes were canceled last week due to the pandemic, and the district announced a virtual option for students earlier on Friday. Days missed during last week’s closure will be made up at the end of the year.

During the state legislative session in Frankfort earlier this year, lawmakers capped each school system’s number of NTI days at 10. After next week, Pike County will have six remaining for use during the pandemic and winter weather.

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