GREENBRIER COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – The Greenbrier County Board of Education held a special meeting today to approve its back to school plan.
After investing a large amount of time and work between the Board and stakeholders, GCS released its official plan for school re-entry. The plan was unanimously approved in the Board meeting this morning.
“It’s a three-fold plan based on the metrics of the infection rate,” said Greenbrier County Superintendent Jeff Bryant. “We’re going to go through our health officials who have been with us from the very beginning to decide what is the best and safest way to start school. We will be looking at the science and the health and safety of our students first.”
There will be a remote learning option for students of all ages. Finding a balance between in-person and remote learning was a challenge for the Board, and it will continue to be an important matter going forward.
“The challenge for all of the school systems in West Virginia is that this is a truly fluid situation,” Bryant said. “Almost on page one of our plan, it states, ‘although we have a plan and we developed it, it can change immediately.’ Therefore, we all have to be able to respond on a pivot, so to speak, that this could change.”
A unique are of the return to school plan involves a different schedule at the elementary and secondary levels. Bryant explained that the reasoning behind this is two-fold.
“The economic success of our community is dependent on whether those elementary students can come to school, if it’s safe, each and every day,” Bryant said. “When we get to the secondary, the sheer size of our secondary schools told us that we need to go 50/50 there. Let’s break that up so that there’s not an overabundance of students in the school.”
The Board of Education is also providing adequate time on both elementary and secondary levels to work with remote learners.
