On Saturday, the West Virginia Department of Education updated their color-coded county map which determines the status of county schools for the week beginning Monday, September 21. At the time of the update, Monroe County was designated as yellow, and Greenbrier and Pocahontas Counties were both designated as green.
However, according to the map updated by the W.Va. Department of Health and Human Resources on Sunday, September 20, Pocahontas County remains designated as gold. The West Virginia Daily News will report any clarifications regarding the status of Pocahontas County Schools once more information is available.
For Monroe County, this will be the first week of in-person instruction. Monroe County schools released the following statement through social media: “Monroe County Schools is yellow for this upcoming week. Students will begin in-person instruction. Students with last names beginning A – L will attend Monday and Tuesday. Students with the last name beginning M – Z will attend Thursday and Friday. For siblings with different last names, we will go by the oldest sibling’s last name. For more information on the re-entry plan please visit boe.monroe.k12.wv.us.”
In a separate social media post, the Monroe County BOE also addressed the distribution of student meals.
“Food distribution for Full Virtual Students (5-day meal packs) and Remote/Blended Students (3-day meal packs) will occur as follows: Meals can be picked up each Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. The meal pack can be picked up at either Mountain View, James Monroe, Peterstown Elementary, or Peterstown Middle Schools. Parents can indicate their preferred pick up location on the survey form. The summer feeding program was extended through December 31, so all children in Monroe County ages 0 – 18 are eligible for meal pick up.”
Any students who will be picking up meals are required to fill out a survey prior to 10 p.m. each Monday. Contact the Monroe County Board of Education for a link to the survey. Links are also available on Monroe County Schools Facebook page.
Greenbrier County is again designated as green this week. However, on Sunday, September 20, Greenbrier County Schools released an advisory announcing the temporary closing of Greenbrier West High School.
The advisory stated: “In collaboration with the Greenbrier County Health Department and the WV Regional Epidemiologist, Greenbrier County Schools has confirmed a positive COVID-19 case at Greenbrier West High School. Contact tracing has been completed, as students identified as close contacts are in quarantine. Although health officials determined it is safe for students and staff to re-enter the school immediately, school officials transitioned students to full-remote learning through September 23 to ensure that every precaution is taken for the safety of students and staff. All extracurricular and athletic activities are also cancelled during that time.”
