The Boone County School Board meets tonight in an emergency session. Superintendent Bryan Blavatt said he will recommend classes be canceled Monday, the day designated by the Kentucky Education Association for a statewide protest.

Boone County is Kentucky's third-largest school district, with about 15,000 students.

If Monday classes are canceled, youngsters would likely make up the day next spring, Blavatt said.

Here's what other districts are planning:

• The Covington Independent School District will be closed Monday. The school board likely will designate a makeup day at its regular October meeting.

• At a board meeting Thursday, the superintendent of Erlanger-Elsmere schools will recommend closing school Monday.

Newport Superintendent Mike Brandt said he's disappointed at the Kentucky Education Association.

Holding a protest march on a Saturday, would have made the point without affecting schoolchildren, he said.

To contain costs, Gov. Ernie Fletcher has announced that teachers and other state employees will pay a greater share of their medical expenses, with premiums increasing by about 7 percent.

It also requires the state to pick up 70 percent of insurance costs, compared to 67 percent the year before.

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