CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday he’s open to talking with teachers and school service personnel about his earlier recommendation that schools reopen to five-day-a-week in-person Jan. 19.
Justice said during his media briefing on the coronavirus that he recognizes there are some concerns.
“We need to talk to them because they’re worried and they have concerns just like all of us,” Justice said. “They’re legitimate concerns and we need to talk.”
Justice wasn’t specific about when those forums would take place. He did say he had no plans to speaking with leaders of the teacher unions, either the West Virginia Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia.
Justice has cited students failing core classes, suspected child abuse as two of the reasons to get kids back in school.
“We’re trying to go back to school with our middle school kids and our elementary school kids,” Justice said. “We know that transmission is minuscule, minuscule and look at the effort to vaccinate our teachers and service personnel.”
Vaccination clinics for teachers and school service personnel begin Thursday in several counties.
AFT-WV President Fred Albert said during an appearance Wednesday on MetroNews “Talkline” there are more facts to consider and he is urging teachers, local union leaders and members of the community to contact their local boards of education.
“It’s up to the local school boards because they know what’s best for them,” Albert said.
Several county BOEs have already decided to return to school on a blended schedule. Kanawha County School Superintendent Tom Williams said Wednesday his county plans on following the governor’s recommendation.
.@AlbertFralbert, president of AFT-WV, speaks with @HoppyKercheval about back to school plans. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/jkbCPIKZsL
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) January 6, 2021
Albert said there may be a low transmission rate among children but there are many adults in school buildings.
“Our school buildings are made up of more than just children,” Albert said. “We’re made up of adults in those buildings as well and many of those adults are over the age of 50.”
Teachers and service workers have said they want to return to pre-pandemic learning, but only if there is ample PPE, protocols and now both doses of the vaccine.
“If we’re going to wait until March 1 for sports, then why can we not wait until March 1 to get this vaccination into the arms of our educators and our service personnel,” Albert said.
As the days wind down to the return to the classroom, Albert is asking for action.
“I’m asking for people to be reasonable, to take every safety precaution we can,” Albert said,” To provide for us the extra layers of safety protocols before we bring all of these kids back into a building.”
MetroNews’ Jeff Jenkins contributed to this story.