BURLINGTON, Ky. — More classrooms, better technology and upgraded recreational space will be part of a top-to-bottom renovation of the Boone County Head Start facility in Burlington.

The expansion can move forward now that Boone County finalized the sale of the building and land to the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission. The transaction paved the way for construction to begin on the project, according to Catrena Bowman-Thomas, executive director of the NKYCAC.

"We'll be increasing our capacity by up to 40 additional children between the ages of zero and 5," Bowman-Thomas said. Head Start and Early Head Start are federal programs administered in local communities to create access to educational tools that prepare preschoolers from low income families for kindergarten.

"We know that if children do not start kindergarten on grade level, statistics have shown that they will be left behind. And that means there are fewer chances for them to graduate, and fewer chances for them to go on to post-secondary education," she said.

The agency is using disaster relief funding from the Office of Head Start to complete the project by late 2022. Plans call for completely renovating the building on Maplewood Drive in Burlington, adding two Early Head Start classrooms, transforming four Head Start classrooms and adding an apartment for families in transition.

"It's so needed right now because when we think about COVID, so many families have been just impacted by COVID and trying to recover," Bowman-Thomas said.

Additional improvements will include upgrading the gym for students and community members and updating the technology. Meanwhile, there is a second Head Start location in Newport that will be upgrading its kitchen and available technology. Bowman-Thomas said nutrition and education are elements that help support families.

School districts across the state of Kentucky scuttled their back-to-school plans on Aug. 10, when Gov. Andy Beshear announced his official recommendation that the state’s public school students learn from home until at least Sept. 28.

With less than a week left until the academic year begins in Boone County, parents still aren’t sure what lies ahead or what they should be doing to get ready.

“We don’t really know what’s going on,” said Chelsea Fisch, whose three sons attend three different Boone County schools.

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Her high-schooler will start classes on Aug. 25. Which classes? Good question — he hasn’t received his schedule.

“I’ll probably be scrambling this weekend,” Fisch admitted.

Another Boone County mother, Heather Eggleston, said her fifth-grader still doesn’t know who his teacher will be when he logs on to his first day of online classes.

And others across the district have been struggling to prepare for virtual learning, ensure their children have internet access and report problems with students’ school-issued smart devices.

“This is not the way we like to operate,” assistant superintendent James Detwiler said Wednesday. “Obviously, we know that this is a hardship on the families.”

Until Beshear’s announcement, the district had planned on a blended learning model: Students in classrooms for one half of the week and learning online for the other. Detwiler said Boone County schools are doing their best to pivot and be responsive to families’ needs.

If a family doesn’t have access to Wi-Fi, “we will set them up in some way, and we have agencies that work with us to make sure students have what they need,” Detwiler said.

He added that high schoolers should expect to receive an email or phone call containing their schedule on Thursday or Friday. Elementary and middle schoolers, who have the same teacher all day, will know who it is by Friday.

Families in need of help with their child’s computer, Wi-Fi or school meals should call their child’s school directly, Detwiler said.