COVID-19 UPDATE: Gov. Justice issues order permitting colleges and universities to reopen

Press Release

Gov. Jim Justice joined West Virginia health leaders and other officials today for his latest daily press briefing regarding the State's COVID-19 response.

EXECUTIVE ORDER PERMITTING COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES TO REOPEN
During Friday's briefing, Gov. Justice announced that he has issued an executive order, formally allowing all of West Virginia's public and private colleges and universities to reopen for the fall semester.

The order does not mandate a specific reopening date, allowing each institution to reopen on their own preferred time frame.

"After a lot of dialogue with all of our colleges and universities, I know that they are doing anything and everything they can possibly do to keep students, faculty, and their communities as safe as possible," Gov. Justice said.

On Tuesday, Gov. Justice hosted a virtual meeting with all 27 of West Virginia's public and private college and university presidents to discuss reopening plans.

The executive order announced today also formalizes the reopening date for all public and private Pre-K-12 schools as Sept. 8, 2020, as previously announced by the Governor. Additionally, the order clarifies restrictions for certain businesses across West Virginia.

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MILLIONS OF MEALS PROVIDED TO WEST VIRGINIA CHILDREN
Also on Friday, Gov. Justice gave another update on efforts by the West Virginia Department of Education, county boards of education, and additional community partners to provide meals to children through the variety of feeding programs across the state.

"The West Virginia Department of Education received more than $36 million in CARES Act funding to be used for the period between March and September 2020," Gov. Justice said. "This funding was sent directly to the WVDE from the USDA, specifically for meal claims reimbursement to counties.

"As of July, the West Virginia Department of Education has spent more than $40.5 million in meal reimbursements and over 11.5 million meals were served during the COVID-19 school closure," Gov. Justice continued. "This summer, approximately 6.6 million meals will be served through the Summer Food Service Program through 353 feeding sites."

In June 2020 alone, the WVDE reimbursed summer sponsors $7.8 million in federal reimbursement money. This is in comparison to $1.75 million in federal reimbursement for the entirety of the 2019 Summer Food Service Program.

Click here to read the WVDE's full pandemic and summer feeding update

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