With the debate still raging locally about whether to reopen schools this month, Gov. Andy Beshear described Warren County as the second hottest spot in the state for coronavirus spread.

“It is not under control,” Beshear said Thursday during a news briefing.

Statewide, the governor announced 785 new coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing Kentucky’s total number of cases to 37,686. He also announced six more deaths, raising the total to 796 virus-related deaths in Kentucky. The state’s positivity rate – out of all tests conducted, how many came back positive for coronavirus – climbed to 5.67%.

Beshear said Warren County’s positivity rate is higher than 10 percent, but the local health department was unable to verify that claim because it doesn’t receive the total number of tests given in the county, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Beshear’s remarks came as the Bowling Green Independent School District Board of Education weighs whether to vote in favor of Superintendent Gary Fields’ recommendation to reopen schools Aug. 24 as planned.

A special board meeting will be at 3 p.m. Friday, and it will be broadcast live on the district’s Facebook page.

Beshear earlier this week said school districts should wait until late September to resume in-person classes.

Reached by text message Thursday, Warren County Public Schools Superintendent Rob Clayton said: “I am still in the process of talking to our board and leadership staff about the governor’s latest recommendation. We will be having a special called board meeting (most likely Monday evening) to discuss our next steps.”

Shortly afterward, the district made the following announcement: “The Warren County Board of Education will hold a special-called meeting on Monday, August 17, 2020, at 7:00 PM in the South Warren High School Auditorium to discuss the district’s reopening plans. The meeting will be streamed live on the WCPS Facebook page.”

Under the motion before BGISD’s board Friday, parents would have the option to select in-person attendance for their children on an alternating, hybrid schedule or for online attendance through the district’s virtual academy, consistent with the district’s previous plans for continuing instruction amid the pandemic.

Reached Thursday afternoon, board members Deborah Williams, Frank “Hamp” Moore and Christine Dressler said they hadn’t made up their minds about their votes and needed more time to decide.

Moore said he recognized the importance of reopening schools for students and their families but was still weighing the decision.

“I feel like I need to hear the opinions of my fellow board members before I make up my mind,” he said.

Dressler and Williams were also still deciding on how to vote.

“I don’t yet. I’m going to think about it overnight,” Williams said.

On Thursday, Beshear also announced that 25 of the new cases were children 5 years old and younger.

Six school-age children tested positive in Warren County, where school officials are still considering whether to reopen as planned Aug. 24. In the past three weeks, 86 children have tested positive in Warren County, a trend Beshear called “incredibly concerning.”

Speaking to local school board members from across the state Thursday during a virtual town hall event, Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Brown outlined what districts will need to do if they opt to reopen before Sept. 28, as Beshear recommended.

“No. 1, I need you to have a conversation with your local health department about a testing protocol for your staff and your students,” Brown said. “If you are not going to abide by the guidance and you’re opening in this timeframe, it is essential that you pursue some type of a testing protocol with your local health department.”

Brown said local school boards should also check with their attorney about issues with liability insurance coverage.

“I have heard today … there is at least one district that had a conversation with their liability carrier, that if they opened during this time period, there could be issues with coverage under their policy,” Brown said. “That is of concern to me.”

Brown said schools should follow a Healthy At School plan consistent with state guidance with fidelity.

“We have to follow the masking guidance. … We have to temperature check everyone. We have to do the cleaning protocols,” Brown said. “You got to double down on it.”

Davonna Page, a member of the Russellville Independent School District’s Board of Education and president-elect of the Kentucky School Boards Association, said local board members across the state have felt alienated by Beshear’s guidance.

In an interview with the Daily News earlier Thursday, Page spoke personally and not on behalf of the KSBA.

“Board members weren’t consulted or brought into the loop,” Page said. “I just would like to have board members included in the conversation and to have the information needed to make the best decision possible.”

Page said she sympathizes with the tough calls Beshear and state officials have had to make in recent months and that she did not want her comments to be seen as adversarial.

Still, school board members have been left wondering what the exact parameters of a potential school closure are, Page said.

The issue, she said, “is not understanding what the governor’s threshold is” for reopening schools.

Page asked: “What is his case percentage that he would be comfortable” with reopening schools at?

She noted that schools have already put off reopening once before, consistent with Beshear’s earlier call to delay in-person classes until late August.

“Are we going to keep doing this every month?” Page asked, adding there needs to be clearer parameters for reopening schools.

“I certainly understand working parents who do have to leave the home and go to their jobs,” Page said.

– Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @BGDN_edbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.