The West Virginia Education Association has called upon Governor Jim Justice to direct all county schools within the state to immediately transition to full remote-learning.
In a statement released on Monday, November 16, WVEA President Dale Lee said, “We applaud the governor’s recognition that something must be done to curb the increase in coronavirus cases in the state and we agree with him on shifting to remote learning after Thanksgiving, but we do not believe his actions go far enough. WVEA calls for Governor Justice to immediately call for remote learning for all school systems through the remainder of 2020.”
Lee’s request came on the same day that the state surpassed 10,00 active cases of COVID-19, and just one day before the state’s total number of cases exceeded 35,000. At present, the West Virginia Department of Education has confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks at 22 schools locations across the state, with a total of 110 individuals infected.
The W.Va. Dept. of Ed. describes a confirmed outbreak as, “two or more COVID-19 cases among students/staff from separate households, within a 14-day period in a single classroom or core group.”
During his Monday, November 16, coronavirus media-briefing, Justice offered a response to the WAVE’s statement.
“I hate to say it, but it’s just a fact,” Justice said. “Should it be considered? Without question, it should be considered. Has there already been discussion about not going back to school, and following suite to what some of the universities are doing? Yes, there’s been tons of discussion about that over probably the last 10 days or so. Without any question, there are repercussions to the downside. You’ve got daycare to think about. You’ve got our kids to think about. You’ve got how well the virtual learning is really working, period. There’s a lot of educators and superintendents that believe we’re really struggling right there to halfway educate our kids and everything. It’s just…there’s so many ramifications there, and just a whole lot to consider.”
West Virginia coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh also weighed in.
“We know that there are a lot of ramifications, from the loss of the structure and the opportunity for many of our students to have the education delivered in an in-person environment,” Marsh said. “Certainly some of our students have online teaching, either chosen by their families or designated by the color-code of the map, or decided by local boards of education. But I would point out that for schools and for educators, from the data that I read, there can be a significant impact on the generation of young people who don’t have access to that kind of learning because of a lack of internet connectivity, a lack of home structure, an lack of people who make them feel safe and loved.”
Marsh went on to say that younger children are a much lower risk to spread the COVID-19 virus to others. Marsh referred to a study conducted in India which indicates that young people can easily spread it amongst themselves, but are much less likely to spread it to adults.
However, the WVEA stood firm in their recommendation.
“Our state is experiencing record numbers of COVID-19 cases. Our school systems are seeing massive closures and quarantine due to exposure and contact tracing,” Lee further stated. “Many systems have not opened for weeks and others are alternating between in-person and remote learning depending on map colors. It is clear the coronavirus is spreading in our state at a very rapid rate. Cases this fall have far outnumbered the cases in the spring and experts predict the worst outbreaks are yet to occur. We must do something to slow the spread and protect our students, our school employees and their families. Many higher education institutions anticipated the fall spread of COVID and recognized the problems the holiday travel and gatherings would bring. Those institutions have already announced shifts to online learning during the holiday system. It is time for our public-school system to follow suit,” Lee continued.
Lee concluded his statement by saying, “We urge the governor to order a shift to remote learning immediately and to continue through the rest of 2020.”
With nearly 15,000 members, and close to 100 local affiliates, the West Virginia Education Association is the largest teacher’s organization in the state.
In response to the situation, Christy Day, Director of Communications for the West Virginia Department of Education, issued the following statement:
“Superintendent (Clayton) Burch supports the efforts of Governor Jim Justice, the state Board of Education, the DHHR, many school systems and others to maintain in-person instruction and athletics when it is safe to do so. The Superintendent hears from a number of interested groups and individuals on a daily basis, among them school personnel who understand the importance of in-person student engagement when possible. Research from across the country continues to show the importance of in-person learning for at-risk populations and young learners. Likewise, research shows that schools present a low risk for COVID spread, especially among early grades. As always, he (Burch) reminds everyone that it remains critically important to wear masks inside of school and outside of school, and to include other mitigations in your daily routine to decrease the spread of COVID-19″
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