For The Intelligencer
CHARLESTON As West Virginia struggles to get teenagers and young adults vaccinated for COVID-19, the state is preparing for the likely approval of middle schoolers for vaccinations.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve next week a request from Pfizer/BioNTech to allow for use of their two-dose vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 15. The request would require the FDA amending Pfizer’s previous emergency authorization.
The move is part of a three-phase program introduced by President Joe Biden on Tuesday to get 70% of all U.S. adults partially vaccinated and 160 million eligible Americans fully vaccinated by July 1, requiring more than 100 million shots over the next 60 days.
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April 18, 2021 - 11:55 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. West Virginia’s high school graduation rate has increased for a third straight year, in which 92.1% of four-year high school seniors in the 2019-2020 school year graduated.
The West Virginia Board of Education discussed the findings last week, which also focused on the graduation rates between male and female students, as well as rates between ethnic groups.
The graduation rates in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years were 90.2% and 91.3% respectively.
The state Department of Education also provided information on an online dashboard about graduation rates in each county; Doddridge County has the highest graduation rate in West Virginia at 100%, while McDowell County Schools has the lowest graduation rate at 82.5%.
As West Virginia lawmakers gear up to return to the Capitol next week for the 2021 state legislative session, there are many issues that are top of mind from tackling the coronavirus pandemic, expanding telehealth care, broadband, job creation, tax repeals and reviewing the governor’s emergency powers another issue will be centerstage: education.
A new online survey for K-12 teachers is seeking input from them on ways to improve the state s education system.
The survey was created by the West Virginia Senate Education Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Patricia Rucker, a Republican from Jefferson County.
The survey went live this week and can be found on the lower right corner on the home page of the West Virginia Legislature’s website.
The intent of the survey is to collect input from K-12 teachers for ideas or suggestions on ways to improve the state’s overall education system.
According to the West Virginia Senate’s Communications Director Jacque Bland, the survey has not been sent directly to any schools, but the committee plans “to send an invitation … to all teachers” to take the survey.
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The West Virginia Board of Education canceled a meeting that was scheduled Tuesday morning to address counties that did not initially comply with a ruling to return to in-person learning.
The meeting was scheduled to address counties that voted to remain in remote-only instruction. But last week, Gilmer, Taylor and Marion agreed to offer an in-person option making them the last of the state’s 55 counties to comply with the state board’s demands.
State school board President Miller Hall said in a press release that he was pleased all counties were now back in buildings, and he said mitigation efforts, such as mask-wearing and social distancing, to combat the spread of COVID-19, would continue.