BUCKHANNON – When the COVID-19 pandemic caused the closure of schools, teachers, service personnel, school staff and administrators worked quickly to make a smooth transition for bringing daily lessons and meals to students across the state.

While some of the mandated restrictions have relaxed, the exact path for re-entry of students into the 2020-2021 school year is still a work in progress.

Locally, Upshur County parents and guardians are encouraged to let their preferences be known by taking a survey located on the Upshur County Schools West Virginia Facebook page. Upshur County Board of Education President Dr. Tammy Jo Samples said she hopes folks will take a few minutes to complete the survey and lend their thoughts to the decision-making process.

“We have been working hard to prepare for the upcoming school year,” Samples said. “Please find the re-entry survey on our Upshur County Schools West Virginia Facebook page for the opportunity to share your thoughts about returning to school in Fall 2020. We want to hear from you!”

Questions included on the re-entry survey for Upshur County Schools include:

• sharing how many students you have that will be entering Upshur County Schools in Fall 2020,

• telling the grades of each of those students,

• indicating the schools those students will be attending,

• telling if the parents/guardians will be providing transportation for the students,

• answering how parents/guardians prefer children to attend school if school buildings do not fully open in Fall 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,

• answering how parents/guardians feel about students wearing facemasks and how they feel regarding mandatory temperature checks before students enter buses or school,

• sharing their three biggest areas of concerns, and

• indicating if there is reliable internet access in their homes.

Upshur County Schools administrators are asking that parents and guardians complete the survey to help them make decisions about how the 2020 Fall school year will be configured. They ask that parents/guardians complete the survey prior to Monday, June 29, 2020.

Another opportunity to help with the re-entry to school in Fall 2020 gives school service personnel and teachers a chance to learn about possibilities that will be offered this Thursday, June 25, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. The WV United Caucus is sponsoring an online event to help ensure schools remain safe for students and staff. The event is available online at https://forms.gle/qFuvuBMngh8m8M9 or find more info here.

The site says that areas of discussion for this event include school funding; making schools a welcoming place especially for students of color; and re-entry concerns.

The WV United Caucus website says the group is a caucus of rank and file members of AFT-WV and WVEA, two of the West Virginia School Employee Unions.

Registration for the Thursday event, open to school service personnel and teachers, is available on the site.

In a message from the WV Superintendent of Schools W. Clayton Burch on the West Virginia Department of Education website (www.wvde.us) possible re-entry scenarios for Fall 2020 include:

• Safer at school/safer at home, where students attend school four days with one day of remote learning,

• Blended learning delivery models, where students may attend school a limited number of days using creative scheduling, or

• Full remote delivery, where students do remote/at home school 5 days per week.