Most W.Va. Counties Return to In-Person Classes Tuesday
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CHARLESTON -- Tuesday marked the first day of in-person school for a majority of West Virginia counties since March 13 when the state first starting taking the coronavirus seriously, though health and education officials are monitoring staff outbreaks at 11 schools.
"It's been 179 days since our children were in school and we celebrated today 46 counties that were able to open up in person," said Clayton Burch, the state superintendent of schools, during a coronavirus briefing Tuesday.
"We said from the beginning that our children need to be in school," Burch continued. "They really do need these teachers and our parents have been vocal about wanting it to be in-person."
According to the Department of Education, Fayette, Kanawha, Logan, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Putnam and Wayne counties were in the orange as of last Saturday night when the map was updated to determine what schools can re-open the following week. Only Monongalia was in the red.
All orange and red counties had to start school this week virtually or remotely.
Gov. Jim Justice reported Tuesday that nine schools had staff outbreaks of COVID-19, including: Brooke Middle School and Brooke Intermediate North in Brooke County; Ben Franklin Career and Technical Center, Cedar Grove Middle School, Chamberlain Elementary School, Horace Mann Middle School, Shoals Elementary, and Sissonville High School in Kanawha County; and Duval Elementary and Middle School in Lincoln County.
Last week, Point Pleasant Primary School in Mason County and Mingo Central High School in Mingo County reported outbreaks among staff. Burch said county superintendents that oversee these school are working with county and state health officials to help limit the virus spread at these schools, conduct contact tracing and ensure schools are safe.
"These superintendents did what was expected, working hand-in-hand with their local health departments," Burch said.
County school systems spent the last several months developing plans for in-person school, blended options that include a mixture of in-person and distance learning, and an all-distance learning program. Parents were allowed to opt-in for all-virtual learning, though 71 percent of parents chose to support in-person learning.
To guide parents and county school systems, state health officials developed the County Alert System and color-coded map. Counties in the orange and red by last Saturday had to start their school year in distance learning until their COVID-19 cases come down and they move into toe yellow and green categories. Any county that goes into orange category (10-24.9 cases per 100,000) as the school year goes on would trigger mandatory face masks, no large assemblies, and limit fall sports and extracurricular activities to practices. Counties that go into the red (25 or more cases per 100,000) would have to suspend all in-person learning and sports/extracurricular activities.
Justice said he has received complaints from parents in orange and red counties who want to see their students back in school and participating in fall sports and extracurricular activities. Justice said he wants all students back in school, but he must follow the advice of health experts.
"We don't want to do something and look back and say it terribly compounded the issue," Justice said. "I'm so hopeful that … their situations very quickly get down into the yellow and green, and then absolutely we can go on and move on in a really good and safe and prudent way. Nobody wants this more than me."