Updated: 6 hours ago
Game of the Week: Staunton vs. Fort Defiance (1/22/21)
Updated: 6 hours ago
H.S. Basketball Highlights: Friday, January 22
Updated: 8 hours ago
STAUNTON, Va. (WHSV) — “This week, to see the kids come back, to see the looks on the teacher’s faces, to see the children so excited to be back in school, I’ve been borderline euphoric,” Staunton City Schools Superintendent Garett Smith said.
This week, Staunton City Schools (SCS) brought students back in a hybrid learning model for all who wanted to participate. After sending a survey out to parents and families, about 70 percent opted for the hybrid model and the other 30 percent chose to remain virtual.
“We know that when we’re practicing mitigation strategies effectively, then there’s very low transmission inside of schools, ” Smith explained. “That was the very big difference-maker.”
The district started the year with two weeks of virtual learning, and on Tuesday, those who opted for the hybrid schedule came back to the classroom.
“Families still have the option to be virtual. If staff have some specific circumstances that make it more dangerous for them to be in school, then we are working with them on a case by case basis through our human resources department. We understand that, and we are trying to accommodate everybody to make sure they feel safe and comfortable,” Smith said.
Read more about the learning models in Staunton City Schools by clicking here.
Updated: 8 hours ago
ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - As school employees streamed into the Berglund Center Friday, Governor Ralph Northam toured the vaccination clinic.
And he took the measure of an operation organized by the local health districts and Carilion Clinic.
“This has really been a team effort,” Northam told reporters.
Northam said the state now has the system in place to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine, if it can acquire adequate supplies.
“And so now what we need is more doses,” Northam said. “Virginia is getting about 105,000 doses a week. It’s nowhere near where we need to be, so we’re in communication with Washington.”
Northam said the goal is to deliver 50,000 doses a day in Virginia, but that will require substantially more vaccine than the Commonwealth is receiving right now.
“What we would like to see is by early to mid-summer, that all Virginians have been vaccinated,” Northam said. “And finally, we can get our children back in school safely. We can get our businesses back up and running and we can return to a near normal life.”
Northam also said he supports emergency legislation that should help increase the pool of health professionals who can administer vaccines, and provide more locations where mass vaccination clinics could be held.
He said he’s hopeful the bill will reach his desk in a few days.