Education News

In this week’s installment of "Closing the COVID Gap," we take a closer look at the millions of federal dollars flowing into the state to help with COVID-relief in our schools. Last week, the West Virginia Board of Education discussed the additional dollars from the American Rescue Plan and how it might be used.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a big impact on all students. This includes high school students -- some of whom did not qualify for West Virginia’s PROMISE Scholarship this year. There are also still students who have yet to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which, last fall, officials said submissions were down by 25 percent compared to the previous year.

How to use a billion in federal dollars was a major focus at the June West Virginia Board of Education meeting on Wednesday. Members discussed the additional $760 million that is available for West Virginia K-12 schools through the American Rescue Plan.

West Virginians will have 30 days to provide feedback to the state school board on the changes to the state’s current public charter school law. State school board members will officially vote on the new policy in their July meeting.

Since March 13, 2020, when Gov. Jim Justice announced that all K-12 schools would close due to the looming coronavirus pandemic, West Virginia’s education system has been climbing a steep hill to get kids back on track. West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s new summer-long series, “Closing the COVID Gap,” will explore this challenging road ahead for educators, students and families as they work together to close the learning gap created by the pandemic.

On this West Virginia Morning, we launch a new summer-long series focused on education. “Closing the COVID Gap” will explore the challenging road ahead for educators, students, and families as they work together to close the learning gap created by the pandemic. Also, in this show, we have a conversation with West Virginia poet laureate Marc Harshman.

People who have received all of their COVID-19 vaccinations no longer will be required to wear a mask outdoors on West Virginia University campuses, the university said Tuesday.

The West Virginia Board of Education is exploring ways to improve working conditions for teachers who are emerging from the unprecedented drain of teaching during a pandemic -- and looking ahead at the way forward for themselves and their students who will need remediation.

Brian Casto has taught an eighth-grade West Virginia Studies class at Milton Middle School for the past four years, but has recently ventured down unfamiliar roads in order to spark his students’ curiosity about the Mountain State’s rich history through a series of animated lessons on his YouTube channel titled “West Virginia History in Two Minutes or Less.”

Less than half of West Virginia’s 2020 public high school seniors enrolled in higher education this past fall. That includes traditional four-year institutions, two-year institutions, and vocational and technical schools.