A Veterans Day protest planned by Greenbrier County high school students has been called off. After a brief conversation on the evening of Tuesday, November 10, it was agreed that open communication will be the most productive strategy to effectively address the concerns on both sides.
The primary frustration for students, parents, faculty and school-administrators has been the county’s re-entry plan. While it has been designed to protect the health and safety of everyone spending time within a particular school location, it has left students facing unanticipated, and often unfair challenges.
Chief among these concerns is the amount of work which students are required to perform in conjunction with a significant decrease of in-person instruction. Under the guidelines of the county’s re-entry plan, middle and high school students attend in-person education on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursday and Fridays. Wednesday is reserved as a remote-learning day to allow for thorough cleaning and sanitization of school buildings. However, due to the identification of COVID-19 in individuals associated with several county schools in recent weeks, many have been reduced to only two weekly in-person learning days.
Greenbrier County Superintendent Jeff Bryant said, “We continue to change as needed. We are focused on the health and safety of our students and teachers. We’re glad to listen, and my door is always open to students or parents or teachers who have suggestions. The last thing we want to do is to lower expectations. We want our schools to be the best they can be for everyone. Ultimately we’re all here for our students.”
“Originally I suggested we not have the protest on Veterans Day, but I’m not the one in charge,” Tucker Via, a senior in Greenbrier County, and one of the student-organizers said. “But really it’s because of the sacrifice that our veterans have made for us that allows us the right and ability to protest. I have the highest respect for veterans, I am grateful to everything they have sacrificed for all of us.”
A meeting between Bryant and student-organizers has been scheduled for later this week. The West Virginia Daily News will provide updates on the situation should any additional information become available.
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