Recent editorials from West Virginia newspapers:
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Aug. 26
The Intelligencer on access to computer and other devices for students amid the coronavirus pandemic:
We all should have seen it coming. First there was a shortage of face masks and other personal protective gear. Then a crash program had to be launched to find enough medical ventilators for COVID-19 patients. Now, the shortage is - you guessed it - cheap I-pads and Chromebooks.
With school districts throughout the nation offering “distance learning” online, students need devices to connect to the internet. Associated Press reporters found there is a shortage of about 5 million laptops throughout the country.
We have heard no such concern locally, but that may be because area school districts already were well on their way to equipping students with tablets and laptops.
There is a shortage of them in some areas of West Virginia, state school Superintendent Clayton Burch said this week.
Obviously, state agencies should get involved in helping county school systems find the laptops they need. The state has both more bargaining power and more search ability than any county.
Where there are shortages, students whose parents have opted for all-online learning rather than classroom attendance ought to have preference in being given the devices.
In the long run, West Virginia needs to ensure every student has access to a computer and to the internet. The COVID-19 emergency is merely accelerating a process we knew years ago had to be undertaken to ensure our children and grandchildren get good educations.
Online: https://www.theintelligencer.net
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Aug. 25
The Herald-Dispatch on voters in a West Virginia county approving to rebuild and renovate some schools:
Cabell County voters - 6.2% of them, actually - decided to invest in their community’s future last week as they approved a bond issue that will allow the Cabell County Board of Education to improve or replace several buildings.
“We are absolutely ecstatic, and we are privileged to be able to pass the largest school bond in West Virginia’s history, and what that’s going to be able to do for the children and the community of Cabell County is just tremendous,” Superintendent Ryan Saxe said after the votes were counted Saturday.
“I think this speaks volumes to how the Cabell County community has always supported their schools, and they see the importance of providing the best opportunity for our students to learn.”
The 2020 school bond is essentially a renewal of the current bond passed in 2006 that helped build Huntington, Barboursville and Milton middle schools, among other projects.
The new bond calls for Meadows Elementary in Huntington, Davis Creek Elementary near Barboursville and Milton Elementary to be completely rebuilt, either on-site or at a new location.
Nichols Elementary near Barboursville and Hite-Saunders Elementary near Huntington are also expected to receive major renovations.
Both Huntington High and Cabell Midland High schools will receive safe school “man-trap” entrances, which many facilities in the county have. They will also receive upgrades that are needed after more than 20 years of use. Yes, those buildings are that old now.
And most interesting of all, the Career Technology Center will receive either major improvements or else relocate. One possible site for relocation is the former Sears store at the Huntington Mall.
The turnout was low compared to a primary or a general election, but special elections often have low turnouts unless the subject is one of intense interest. Building a few new elementaries or relocating the vocational school apparently aren’t of great interest to the community. Or maybe voters figured it would pass without their votes, so why bother?
But that’s the past. Parents and other stakeholders in these schools can look forward to better facilities in the next few years.
The school system has other needs, of course. In an interview with The Herald-Dispatch editorial board in June, Saxe said the district will look to its existing revenue sources and to the School Building Authority for the money necessary for some of them. As an example, Hite-Saunders needs the immediate improvements the bonds will pay for, but for the long term a replacement building must be considered, he said.
There’s another question for the system’s future that must be faced. If shutdowns and lockdowns are to be the normal response when a new communicable disease enters the country, does the school system have the personnel, programs and equipment ready to handle them year after year? Could the future of public education rely on a blend of classroom instruction and at-home learning?
Parents who are trying a blended approach as the school year begins might prefer it for the long term. Or they might not. We’ll have to see. Either way, the system needs to be prepared for a possible (forgive the use of these two words) paradigm shift in the way education is delivered.
That’s a question that can be answered another day, but it can’t be put off for long. Meanwhile, parents, grandparents, students, school employees and others can enjoy the fact that steps are being taken to improve or replace buildings that are the centers of education in Cabell County.
Online: https://www.herald-dispatch.com
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Aug. 20
The Charleston Gazette-Mail on substance abuse in West Virginia:
Jason Cuffee was a local hero. He was a standout athlete in high school and had a good career in front of him, working as a Charleston firefighter and medic.
He died of a drug overdose last month while on duty at the Oakwood Road fire station. He was 27.
It’s a painful reminder that the drug crisis that has afflicted West Virginia disproportionately for decades can claim anyone. It’s not just the poor or the down and out. It’s not just the people in what is deemed the “bad part of town” or the more untamed rural hollows where the economy has gone belly up and there’s seemingly nothing better to do. It’s everywhere, and anyone can become a victim of addiction.
Sadly, this isn’t new information. The substances change, but the problem remains the same. When heroin-related overdoses were spiking in Huntington, starting in 2014, city and community officials who banded together to address the problem began to realize that addiction didn’t respect social spheres or income levels.
Jan Rader, a Huntington nurse, EMT and firefighter who is now the city’s fire chief, described the phenomenon of functioning addicts - people who held high-level positions of responsibility at their jobs and were respected community members but relied on a bump of heroin to get them through the day.
While public health and government officials are more focused on COVID-19 at the moment, and rightly so, Cuffee’s death tells West Virginians that the state’s reigning public health crisis also is still very much an issue. And it’s getting worse during the pandemic.
As Caity Coyne reported in the Gazette-Mail earlier this summer, calls to emergency services for overdoses were up almost 50% in May alone, compared to the same time in 2019. Overdoses in Kanawha County were up by about 400%. A pandemic that is treated with isolation separates those in recovery from the services they are used to, and presents a greater barrier to those who might seek help.
The solution remains elusive, as it has been long before the coronavirus struck. Community and city efforts, along with drug courts and state support, are crucial. A better economy, with more opportunities, would probably make inroads, as well, but it’s no cure.
It took a long time for the drug crisis to get its tentacles within reach of every West Virginia community and home. It will take a long time to sever them - long after COVID-19 is a bitter memory.
Online: https://www.wvgazettemail.com
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