MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – When classrooms open in Monongalia County this fall masks will be optional, but many other lessons learned will remain in place.
On WAJR’s Talk of the Town, Monongalia County Schools superintendent Eddie Campbell said they have reviewed, and in some areas have relaxed their response plan with county health officer Dr. Lee Smith.
“He gave us the green light and said he thought we were ok to go ahead and lift the masks,” Campbell said,” With the caveat that if things went south or if things started to pick up because of COVID that he would maybe step back in and say we have to tighten things up a little bit.”
Pandemic practices adopted in buildings like traffic patterns, adjusting lunch schedules to limit gatherings and good hygiene are some of the things that will remain in place.
” We’ll keep our extra cleaning crews around not just for COVID, but when flu season hits,” Campbell said,” If we get a spike in flu in our building it makes good sense.”
Through the course of the pandemic school administrators shuffled schedules, conducted intensive cleanings, learned contact tracing and quarantine policies to ensure safety. Coronavirus quarantines had the greatest impact on teachers and athletic programs creating additional challenges in keeping students and programs operational.
“The biggest thing I think we’ve learned is that we have to adaptable and we have to be willing to adjust on the fly,” Campbell said,” I think we were very successful doing that.”
The mask policy will be an individual choice for those fully vaccinated. Many elementary school students or staff members may elect to continue wearing a mask regardless of vaccine status.
” If a student is sick- number one, we’re going to encourage kids to stay home and number two, if you’re sick or you’ve got a sniffle or something like that then wear a mask to school to prevent the spread of a cold flu, whatever the case may be,” Campbell said.
Health experts agree that the vaccine is effective against the variants, can prevent hospitalization and reduce severity of the illness for people who become infected. Additionally, data shows up to 98 percent of coronavirus-related deaths are people that have not been vaccinated.
” It’s not for political reasons or belief in one way or the other,” Campbell said,” It’s simply because if kids and adults have that vaccine in the school setting they don’t have to be quarantined if they’re exposed to a case of COVID, so it protects students and keeps them in a classroom.”
Through the month of July, the school will conduct nearly 100 in-person activities as part of the Summer Avalanche program. The programs offer opportunities to learn trajectory and angles through a golf programs and English-language arts skills with video games.
The first day for teachers this fall will be August 19. Students will begin classes August 24.