The state’s color-coded alert map caused much confusion for students, parents, teachers, staff members and administrators in Ohio County Schools, but Superintendent Dr. Kim Miller remains focused on the job of guiding public education in whatever form Gov. Jim Justice mandates.
“When reporters started calling me over the weekend, my only comment was that I couldn’t make a statement on the possibility we would be orange,” Miller explained. “What I am doing is executing an education to our students. That’s my job, and we’re all working very hard to accomplish that. The first week went very well.
“No matter what color our school system is in, that’s what I am going to do. How we do it? That’s not our decision,” the superintendent said. “Instead of trying to figure out how the state officials are determining what they do, I have been very busy getting our buildings ready for our students and our staff members and making sure our teachers have virtual lessons for our students when they are needed.”
New Guidelines … Again?
Gov. Justice explained during his Monday COVID-19 briefing Monday afternoon that he was scheduled to meet with advisers to determine new safety guidelines for residents of West Virginia. The governor also stated that he feels a fifth color is needed for the alert map.
At this time, green, yellow, orange, and red are the colors utilized by officials of the Department of Health and Human Resources. Green county school systems can welcome students for in-person instruction and participate in extracurricular activities such as sports, and schools in yellow counties can, too. Justice said late last week that schools in orange counties would have to offer virtual learning only and no sports. The only red county in the Mountain State right now is Monongalia, and those schools are online only with extracurricular activities suspended.
Gov. Justice announced this morning that a fifth color, gold, has been added.
“I can’t imagine how people felt in Mon County on Saturday with the Mountaineers playing football, but a parent of a kindergarten student can’t send their child to school,” Miller said. “That had to be a tough pill for those parents to swallow.
“As far the numbers at West Liberty University, I would like to say that those folks are isolated up on that hill, but they’re really not,” she continued. “We have student teachers from West Liberty in our schools, and the faculty and staff members mostly live in our Ohio County community, and we all go to the same places for gas and groceries and things like that.”
Which Map Is It?
What proved most frustrating for Dr. Miller late last week was that there were multiple maps floating around on social media, and that caused many parents to panic about a return to virtual-only education.
Now, with a newly developed alert map, the superintendent hopes it helps to clear up the confusion instead of adding to it in the future.
“At this point, I don’t think anyone knows which map to follow,” Miller said. “Last week, one map had Ohio County as this, and another map had Ohio County as that. I understand why people are very frustrated, but that stuff is not coming from Ohio County Schools.
“We always are watching the numbers like everyone else, but I think people just need to be patient right now and wait until the official map comes on Saturday,” she said. “The speculation makes so many people be negative. As soon as the county was designated yellow, the first question I was asked was if it meant that we would be orange next week. I don’t know the answer to that question, of course, but I will enjoy this week as a yellow county.”
Education Will Continue
Two schools in Marshall County suddenly were closed Sunday evening because a staff member at each school tested positive for COVID-19. According to the Marshall County Health Department, the county has recorded a total of 138 confirmed cases and 5 probable cases, 12 of which are in isolation at home, 1 associated death and 130 who have been released from isolation.
The two schools, according to Superintendent Shleby Haines, are McNinch Elementary and Sherrard Middle.
“I am not sure if we’ll see positive cases in our schools like what has happened in Marshall County, but I do know we have an awesome plan in place in case,” Miller said. “We are prepared for that to happen, and we’ll handle each case individually. We have the steps in place for whatever scenario we find ourselves in.
“There were a lot of people working very, very hard during the summer months so our staff and faculty would be prepared to offer the students an education in whatever way they have to,” the superintendent added. “Whatever decisions are made downstate, and whatever color Ohio County may be, this school system is ready to go.”
A concentration of cleanliness inside the 14 public schools in Ohio County was implemented over the summer, and Miller has been very pleased with the district’s employees.
“Our custodians and our maintenance employees have been working very hard, and they are doing very, very well,” Miller reported. “If you walk into any of our schools and our floors are like ice rinks, and all of them smell clean. They’ve done an outstanding job in the middle of all of the bond projects that are moving forward right now.
“One day Triadelphia Middle was upside-down because of the work that is going on there, but the next day it was spotless for classes to take place. It was very impressive to me,” she said. “They really have done an amazing job.”
