Fayette County Public Schools closed Thursday; teachers group calls for 'sick out'

Fayette County Public Schools is closed Thursday.

School Spokesperson Lisa Deffendall says that roughly 40 percent of school employees have reported they will not be at school tomorrow.

Deffendall says that leaves the district without enough substitutes to cover all the absences.

As a result, all Fayette County Public Schools will be closed on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019.

Jefferson County Public Schools and Madison County Schools will also be closed Thursday, both because of a large number of staff absences.

The group, KY 120 United is urging teachers to call in sick. The group is not affiliated with teachers unions in the state.

Here's part of a letter from them

That letter mentioned

specifically. It would change the nomination process for the Teachers' Retirement System trustee board.

On Twitter,

wrote, "If you think this is about a pension board, you haven't been paying attention."

WKYT reached out to the cofounder of KY 120 United for a statement. Nema Brewer told us the following:

Rep. Ken Upchurch, R-Monticello, filed the bill in the House on Feb. 20. It was moved to a committee the next day. The bill is on the agenda for Thursday at noon.

Rep. Upchurch released the following statement:

The president of the Kentucky Education Association talked about the issue in a Facebook live video. Stephanie Winkler said in part, "We need to help our legislators understand that we are staying vigilant and we are not going to allow anything that is going to damage our pension system or systems, we have to. We need to protect them at all cost, because that’s all we have."

"Everyone needs to call the legislative message line 1-800-372-7181," Winkler added. "I'm getting messages as I'm doing this video that the legislative message line that you are burning it up and that's great."

You can watch the full video below.

Kentucky's Education Commissioner Dr. Wayne Lewis also commented on the 'sick out.'

"It is unfair to Kentucky's students and families, unresponsibile, and irresponsible to attempt to shut down our state's public school system because a House committee will consider a bill," said Dr. Lewis. "Educators can and should make their views known in Frankfort, but there is no reason for our kids not to be in school tomorrow."

WKYT also checked on the status of the current pension bill.

We don't know when lawmakers are expected to hear the bill.