A majority of Louisville school board members say Kentucky's largest school district should forgo in-person classes and begin the new school year with remote instruction.

Six of the seven members of the Jefferson County Board of Education told The Courier Journal they will vote Tuesday for nontraditional instruction, or NTI, to start the school year, saying it is the only way to keep students and staff safe amid surging coronavirus cases.

"None of us want to be in that situation where we have to send letters to families because we've lost a staff member or we've lost a student or it spread from a student to a grandmother or a mom or a dad," said Joe Marshall, representing District 4 in southwest Jefferson County.

"There's too many variables right now. And what we can control is not allowing more traffic into buildings and not allowing this to spread."