It makes sense that there was some resistance to Gov. Jim Justice’s plan last week to reopen all West Virginia pre-K, elementary and middle schools for in-per
Jan 6, 2021
It makes sense that there was some resistance to Gov. Jim Justice’s plan last week to reopen all West Virginia pre-K, elementary and middle schools for in-person learning by Jan. 19. People want to know that students, teachers, administrators and staff will be safe under such a plan.
But Justice and state Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch are right to think most Mountain State kids will be better off in the classroom, and an upsetting number of them will be considerably safer, too.
“The virtual learning models do not work for most students without consistent, live engagement from a teacher from the student’s own school,” Justice said.
sadams@newsandsentinel.com
CHARLESTON West Virginia’s two unions representing educators are not happy with plans to bring staff and students back to school in-person and are skeptical about plans to have teachers vaccinated against COVID-19 in time.
Gov. Jim Justice announced last week that Pre-K, elementary schools and middle schools will reopen for in-person learning Jan. 19 regardless of a county’s color on the County Alert System map.
High schools also will reopen for in-person learning as long as the county is not listed as red due to high infection rates or percent of positivity.
As result of the changes, the weekly Department of Education County Alert System map is being discontinued in favor of the County Alert System map updated daily by the Department of Health and Human Resources. As of Tuesday, 48 out of 55 counties were red for high rates of COVID-19 infection or high percent of positivity rates.
For The Inter-Mountain
CHARLESTON West Virginia’s two unions representing educators are not happy with plans to bring staff and students back to school in-person and are skeptical about plans to have teachers vaccinated against COVID-19 in time.
Gov. Jim Justice announced last week that Pre-K, elementary schools and middle schools will reopen for in-person learning Jan. 19 regardless of a county’s color on the County Alert System map.
High schools also will reopen for in-person learning as long as the county is not listed as red due to high infection rates or percent of positivity.
As result of the changes, the weekly Department of Education County Alert System map is being discontinued in favor of the County Alert System map updated daily by the Department of Health and Human Resources. As of Tuesday, 48 out of 55 counties were red for high rates of COVID-19 infection or high percent of positivity rates.
Teachers, school employees in West Virginia can receive COVID-19 vaccine this week by Tyler Arnold, The Center Square | January 06, 2021 10:00 AM Print this article
West Virginia teachers and other school employees will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination Thursday as Gov. Jim Justice is beginning to reopen most public schools for in-person classes.
The West Virginia Department of Education will distribute information on where and when each employee can receive the vaccine directly to the superintendents of each county, the governor’s office said.
Justice’s announcement came after the governor altered the state’s color-coded system for counties, which determines when schools can reopen. Under the less restrictive system, the state will reopen all elementary and middle schools and most high schools Jan. 19.