August 26, 2021
To Pleasants County Parents, Staff and Community:
We continue to be in a very difficult time with the COVID epidemic and our children and employees are our number one priority. We felt the need to share what influenced our decision to temporarily wear masks at this time.
Due to guidance, by wearing masks for indoor learning and activities, we can keep our kids in school. If you look at the WVDE guidelines it states…when everyone is wearing a mask, if a student tests positive, regardless of how close they are to others, only the positive student will have to quarantine. This will prevent other students from having to quarantine for 7-14 days. If there was not a mandate, we would have to contact trace and that would lead to a lot of kids being out of school for lengthy periods of time, parents being off work, and potential school closure because of the lack of school staff members and bus drivers.
We appreciate everyone’s understanding and willingness to follow the guidelines. We will continue to monitor the circumstances in Pleasants County Schools and make decisions based on keeping our kids safe and in school for In-Person Learning.
Michael Wells, Superintendent & Pleasants County Board of Education