A color-coding system will be used for schools to decide whether each county will be allowed to restart in-person classes. The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources developed the system, which assigns each county a color — green, yellow, orange or red — based on the seven-day average of new daily cases per 100,000 population. Gov. Jim Justice said an updated map will be posted online every Saturday.
Green indicates minimal community transmission and it’s most favorable for schools to open. Red indicates substantial community transmission, and all in-person instruction is suspended and remote learning plans are to be activated. Justice has pushed back the start of the school year to Sept. 8. He said recently that a final decision on the reopening would have to be made by Sept. 1.