WV Department of Education OK’s return to classroom, blended learning options

WEST VIRGINIA (WVVA) - The West Virginia Department of Education green-lights the return to in-person instruction.

Under the Motion adopted during Wednesday's State Board of Education meeting, Pre-K through 8th grade students will return to in-person instruction, regardless of the DHHR's County Alert System map, on January 19th.

County school boards no longer have the option to implement full, countywide remote learning for Pre-K through 8th grade students. They can, however, use blended learning models.

If utilized, the blended learning models must provide each student with at least 2 days of in-person instruction per week.

A local county Board of Education can also work with local health officials to close individual classrooms or schools, if necessary.

High schools in the Mountain State will attend in-person unless its county is in the red on the County Alert System map. Local school boards can adopt blended learning models for grades 9-12.

High schools must, however, resort to remote learning the day after going into the red category, and can stay remote until the following Monday.

If a county is not red on the DHHR daily map on Saturday, in-person instruction will resume the following Monday. However, county superintendents can resume in-person learning before then.

If a county is red on a Saturday or Sunday, remote learning will continue for another week "unless the county superintendent directs in-person learning to resume earlier."

To read the motion in full, click here.

Stick with WVVA as we continue to monitor this developing story.