LOGAN COUNTY, W.Va. — Green, yellow or gold were the colors the superintendent of schools in Logan County was hoping to see for her county on the County Alert System Map, tracking coronavirus spread locally, at its release time at 5 p.m. this Saturday.
Any of those colors would clear the way for students in Logan County to return to their schools for the first time since March with blended learning, a mix of online and in-person instruction, beginning on Monday.
“We want our children in school. It’s never been anything but we want them in school, if it is safe,” said Patricia Lucas, county superintendent.
Since the start of the school year, school operations and school extracurriculars in all 55 West Virginia counties have been determined for the following week by the status of the map at a Saturday cutoff time as released through the state Department of Education.
Logan County went remote for instruction to start the year when it was red on the County Alert System Map for what was determined to be “substantial” coronavirus spread.
The county has cycled through other colors based on COVID-19 case numbers since then.
As of last Saturday, Logan County was gold, a new color addition on the map, for “elevated” coronavirus levels. The category allows for in-person school instruction if additional safety steps are taken to limit potential coronavirus spread.
It was Tuesday night before members of the Logan County Board of Education were able to meet to vote on school plans. The vote was unanimous for school returns starting next week if local coronavirus case numbers allowed for it.
Full remote learning remained an option for families who wanted it.
The gold color for Logan County was on the school map dating back to last Saturday evening.
On the separate, daily County Alert System Map from the state Department of Health and Human Resources, Logan County was orange, for “heightened” coronavirus transmission, as of Wednesday morning.
“Every time we see those numbers increasing, it’s of concern and we want — first and foremost — for our numbers to decrease,” Lucas said. “I just hope they (updated case numbers) are able to stay within the gold or go to yellow.”
The latest community COVID-19 testing event in Logan County was being held Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Old 84 Lumber Building in Peach Creek.