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Possible Changes Coming To Student Vaccination Rules, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, the state has long been a standards bearer for vaccination rates across the country, but the legislature this year passed a bill to loosen restrictions for certain students in the state. But it has one final hurdle to clear before it’s implemented.

On this West Virginia Morning, the state has long been a standards bearer for vaccination rates across the country, but the legislature this year passed a bill to loosen restrictions for certain students in the state. But it has one final hurdle to clear before it’s implemented. Emily Rice has more.

Also, in this show, a bill Gov. Jim Justice vetoed last week would have helped fund research to treat Alzheimer’s disease, substance use disorder and more. Randy Yohe has the story.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Eric Douglas is our news director and producer.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Keeping Kids Active During Winter Break Has Benefits

Everyone, even kids, needs a break and the winter holidays provide the perfect respite in the academic year. But experts say just a little bit of activity during the downtime can go a long way to starting the new year off right.

The holidays are an important time to rest and relax. Everyone, even kids, needs a break and the winter holidays provide the perfect respite in the academic year. But experts say just a little bit of activity during the downtime can go a long way to starting the new year off right.

Kerry Gabbert, assistant professor and public health evaluation and training specialist for West Virginia University Extension’s Family Nutrition Program SNAP-Ed Program, said daily activity not only has physical benefits for kids, but mental and emotional benefits as well.

“Kids who meet the daily requirements for physical activity have improved memory and concentration, they have a better sleep pattern,” Gabbert said. “And they also experience benefits to their mental and emotional health, like reduced anxiety and depression.”

The daily recommendation for kids aged six to 17 is 60 minutes of physical activity. Whereas the advice used to be that activity should be done in increments of at least 10 minutes, Gabbert said research now shows being active for just two or three minutes at a time can contribute to the total 60 minutes.

“It’s a great way for families to spend time together doing something that can be really fun, it doesn’t have to be overly structured play,” she said. “The best ways for families to be active can be something as simple as taking a walk together after dinner or putting some music on and dancing.”

Families can use physical activity to strengthen their bond and enjoy their time together during the winter break. Gabbert said another way of looking at integrating active time is to break up those lazy winter days, and try to reduce the amount of time kids are sedentary.

“If they’re sitting and playing a video game, or having some other type of screen time, instead of allowing kids to sit and not move around for hours at a time, set a timer for an hour and make sure they get up, move around,” she said. “Maybe walk up and down the stairs, or do a few jumping jacks or even just walk a lap around the house, any kind of movement to break up the sedentary time also helps to get your blood flowing, clear your mind out, and it helps reduce some of the negative impacts that you can get from not being active.”

Students of all ages can also benefit from staying mentally active during the winter break.

Jennifer Robertson-Honecker, WVU associate professor and the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) specialist for WVU Extension, was also formerly a high school teacher and said while the academic impact of the winter holiday break isn’t as severe as the “summer slide,” students can still lag come January.

“When they come back after the break, if they’ve done nothing with their brains or with their bodies, there’s often this type of lethargy that’s hard to get them going again,” Robertson-Honecker said.

She said STEM can be made fun, engaging and age-appropriate through crafts and even everyday activities like baking or cooking.

“Think about what you’re already doing with your family and how you could turn it into a learning moment,” Robertson-Honecker said. “A lot of families love to make those salt dough ornaments. There’s a lot of chemistry in that that you can talk about, of how it’s forming.”

She encouraged families to lean into holiday activities, and their messier side. The more fun kids have with an activity, the more likely they are to remember and learn from it.

“It’s really important to do it together, as a family,” Robertson-Honecker said. “Research shows that, when you bring learning like that into the home, it’s just so much more meaningful for kids. And it really sticks with them, and demonstrates lifelong learning, that learning can be fun.”

There are many resources online for at-home learning activities, including on the WVU Extension website. But Robertson-Honecker says there shouldn’t be an objective to get something perfect at the end of holiday activities.

“That low stakes learning really shows that it can be fun and exciting, and something you can do together,” she said. “You can turn any activity into a fun thing to do with your kids.”

Students Protest Anti-Abortion Display At WVU

Students at West Virginia University (WVU) in Morgantown are protesting an anti-abortion display on campus.

The anti-abortion group Center for Bio-Ethical Reform staged a demonstration Wednesday and Thursday in WVU’s free speech zone in front of the Mountainlair student union.

The organization displayed images that purported to show aborted fetuses alongside victims of lynching and the Holocaust, comparing abortion to genocide.

Jacinta Robin is a media liaison for Center for Bio-Ethical Reform events. She said the organization brought the display — titled the “Genocide Awareness Project” (GAP) — to WVU because the university’s “plethora of students with diverse ideas” made it a good place for public discourse.

“We seek public universities for the reason of there being a public discourse on their campus in some capacity, that we should be allowed to use as a taxpayer in this country,” Robin said. “But we still abide by the university’s protocol every time.”

She said the organization aims to sway public opinion and that their images represent the organization’s beliefs.

“Many people believe that abortion is the process of eliminating blood and tissue,” Robin said. “We’re reversing that narrative that abortion decapitates and dismembers a tiny human child.”

Returning student Adrienne Dering called the information on the signs ”factually incorrect.”

“This is an institution of education, and people deserve to be educated,” Dering said.

“Abortion doesn’t look like D&Cs [dilation and curettage] anymore,” she continued. “Ninety-seven percent of abortions in this country are in the first trimester, and the vast majority of them are medical abortions where women have a safe, medically monitored miscarriage in the comfort of their own home and the blood clot is the size of an olive.”

Dering said she was also protesting because the information being presented, which included comparisons of gender transitioning to genital mutilation, was potentially harmful.

“The information on that hurts people, and we need to protest against anything that is divisive and hurtful to people of all gender assignments and to human beings,” she said.

Counter-protestors started their action as early as 7 a.m. Thursday, which included handing out contraceptives as well as information about safe sex and reproductive health resources.

Students like freshman Leah Coleman blocked the view of the display with oversized signs painted on tarps and bed sheets reading “Protect Trans Folks” and “Abortion is Healthcare.”

“By putting it in front of the Mountainlair, it’s making it look like, ‘Oh, this is WVU’s message. This is what WVU supports,’” Coleman said. “But obviously, this is not what the student body supports, or we wouldn’t be here.”

A similar display and counterprotest took place at Marshall University earlier this week.

Many of the students at the counterprotest said they have written to the university expressing their concern and confusion at the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform’s presence on campus. Some have asked for the group’s removal.

The organization is considering returning Friday. Students plan to continue their protest if they do.

W.Va. Universities, Colleges Preparing For Campus Carry Law

After years of failed attempts, Senate Bill 10, the Campus Self-Defense Act, also known as Campus Carry, passed in the recently completed legislative session.

After years of failed attempts, Senate Bill 10, the Campus Self-Defense Act, also known as Campus Carry, passed in the recently completed legislative session. The new law authorized the concealed carry of firearms in certain areas of college and university campuses. It takes effect July 1, 2024.

West Virginia’s institutions of higher education largely opposed campus carry. Campus leaders at big and small schools said they’ll need that much time to prepare.

Marshall University’s enrollment is a little more than 13,000. In the Eastern Panhandle, Shepherd University has just over 3,000 students. Both schools have campus carry committees and task forces that include administration, faculty, staff and students. Marshall Director of Public Safety Jim Terry said there are a wide variety of policy decisions on the table.

“We have a small group of senior leadership,” Terry said. “We’ve put together an action learning team made up of constituents from every facet of the university to go out and look at best practice, best policy.”

Holly Morgan Frye, vice president for Student Affairs, and the director of Community Relations at Shepherd University, said her school’s campus carry task force also includes attorneys and members of the residence life team.

Both schools now allow no firearms on campus. SB10 will permit concealed carry in classrooms and public areas, but not in stadiums and day care facilities. Frye said Shepherd’s key concern highlights student mental health and suicide issues.

“Everybody knows that the mental health issues on a college campus are on an increase,” Frye said. “We are getting ready to hire a fourth counselor. We have an enrollment of a little more than 3,000, and we feel that it’s critical that we have that fourth counselor because of the mental health issues.”

Marshall senior Abbey McBrayer said the chilling, anxious effect of COVID-19 still lingers on campus. She said campus carry could make it worse.

“A lot of people my age still feel uncomfortable being out on campus and going to like classrooms and things like that,” McBrayer said. “I think knowing that somebody could just have a gun in a classroom is kind of going to add to that. And then I mean, our counseling services are already kind of bogged down.”

Frye said she worries whether campus carry will affect enrollment for border schools like Shepherd. She believes the costs of ensuring campus safety will demand a larger police force.

Terry said the initial estimate for Marshall’s firearm security could reach $400,000, while Frye said the Shepherd cost could be several times that. Both point to residence halls, where guns are not allowed in dorm rooms, but are allowed in lunch rooms and lounges.

“I think that we’re going to have to be providing safes in order for any of our residential students who choose to carry to be able to lock those guns away when they are in their residential rooms,” Frye said. “We have already heard from our residential assistants with concerns about how they will manage that. For example, what will they do if they see somebody who has a gun? What will be the process?”

Terry said the school will have to create a new firearms policy when secondary school age visitors use campus facilities and with campus buildings jointly owned by public and private entities. He said there are no provisions in the law made for violation of campus carry policies, civil or criminal.

“We’re going to have to get with the county prosecutor,” Terry said. “There are no criminal statutes and there are no penalties attached to that code. If a person sees half a holster sticking out from underneath a jacket, and they call it in, he’s not violated the law. But we have nothing in place for a shirt raising up or something like that.”

Marshall freshman Jonathan Willman agreed with all the safeguards and security measures needed. However, he sees campus carry as a defensive necessity.

“I plan to carry myself when I get my concealed carry license,” Willman said. “We aren’t the people you have to worry about, it’s the people that break the laws. The bill allows kids to be able to defend themselves from people like that, who are already breaking the law and shooting up schools and campuses.”

Concord Will Use Federal Funds To Address Mental Health In Schools

There is a dramatic need for more social workers in schools, and one state university is creating a program to help.

Over the next five years, Concord University will receive close to $5 million from the U.S. Department of Education Mental Health Service Professionals Demonstration Program.

The money will help create the CU in Schools program, which will place 40 Masters in Social Work (MSW) students in high-need education agencies across the state to complete their advanced-year field placements.

Scott Inghram, the Masters of Social Work program director and chair of the Social Work and Sociology department, said the program is the result of a collaborative effort.

“We’ve had support from the West Virginia Department of Education. We’ve also partnered with West Virginia State University to try to make this program as successful as we can,” Inghram said.

Inghram said that upon completion of their placement, graduate students will be employment ready and should be able to practice in the same high need school in which they were placed.

“There are incentives for the students to participate, including full tuition and stipends for their internship or their practicum,” he said. “There’s also incentives for the counties to hire our graduates once they’ve completed our program.”

Shawn Allen, an associate professor of social work at Concord, said the need for social workers is high across the country, but especially in West Virginia.

“The recommended national ratio for students to social workers in schools is one social worker for every 250 students. In West Virginia right now, the ratio is one social worker for every 15,433 students,” Allen said. “When we saw the opportunity for this funding, we knew that it would be a great way to try to help meet some of that need.”

Social workers provide services to school systems including advocating for students, assessment of student and family needs and therapeutic interventions related to mental health and substance misuse services.

“When you look at the national data, a lot of the things that they say are missing, social workers can provide,” Allen said. “Our graduates, when they finish our program, they’re employment ready. Really, they can slide right in and help meet that need, linking kids to resources and their families to resources that they might need.”

According to a study released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in 2022, there was a 23 percent increase in the percentage of children with anxiety or depression in West Virginia between 2016 and 2020.

School Bus Driver, Mechanic Shortage Affecting Student Education

The challenge to recruit and retain public school bus drivers remains at a critical level, and it’s having a ripple effect on student education.

The challenge to recruit and retain public school bus drivers remains at a critical level, and it’s having a ripple effect on student education. Meanwhile, a shortage of bus mechanics is only aggravating the problem.

Randy Yohe spoke with West Virginia School Service Personnel Association Executive Director Joe White about the urgent need to find a solution, including legislative remedies, enacted or dismissed, to fix the problem.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Yohe: We’ve heard for a while now from the West Virginia Department of Education transportation folks that there continues to be a critical need and shortage of school bus drivers. How critical is it?

White: It’s very critical. I’ve just completed a quick text message sent to a few of our leaders. With about five or six counties, we were probably 50 drivers short of making all routes every day, and that was just a handful of counties. It gets worse as you go into all 55 counties with our students paying the price. In some instances, they’re unable to be picked up. The parents either had to take them or they were excused for the day. A lot of our bus drivers are doubling up or tripling up runs, making extra trips or getting as many students on the bus as they possibly can. So that’s what we’re faced with.

Yohe: Does that get you concerned about safety?

White: It does concern me with safety, and I’m sure it concerns them as well. I have to say this, in the state of West Virginia, we have a top-notch transportation department. I’ll put these guys and girls up against any state because they’re very well trained. Still, we always have some concerns about safety – if a bus is crowded or they have to be concerned with the number of trips they’re making and doubling and tripling up. In most of our counties, our drivers can’t even take a day off to go to their doctor’s appointment because they don’t have anybody to replace them.

Yohe: I’ve heard you make the statement that substitute bus drivers are a thing of the past. Why is that?

White: The majority of the reasons why is the pay. Compared to the salaries with our surrounding areas, we’re lower than all of our surrounding states. We’re about 26th in the nation with pay. It’s so much easier now with the way things are that they have their CDL license so that they can get jobs driving KRT buses, they can go drive water trucks, they can drive fuel trucks and they get paid more. There’s a lot of responsibility on drivers. Our drivers have to take training if there’s medication involved for a student. And all of the staff development hours are required over and above the 18 hours required by state code. In some instances, it’s easier just to get a job somewhere else.

Yohe: The recently passed House Bill 2346 lifts the 140 Day maximum limit for bus driver retirees who have returned to work. Does that make a difference? Or will it?

White: It will make a difference. I think the number that was thrown out we had about 141 retirees currently working that the bill would affect.

Yohe: I understand there’s a critical shortage of school bus mechanics and technicians. How severe is that?

White: It is very severe. In most counties where we have this issue our mechanics are driving every day. Think about that our mechanics are having to stop what they’re doing, and drive the buses, because there’s not enough bus operators. Number one, our counties really don’t hire enough mechanics to start with to keep the fleets going. Number two, some of our mechanics drive every day. Because of the shortage, we have maintenance guys that have been drivers that still hold certification. It is an issue. This somehow has to be addressed.

Yohe: That becomes a ripple effect, doesn’t it? If you’ve got mechanics, driving buses and other workers working as mechanics, you’re going to have some shortfalls?

White: Absolutely, you’re absolutely correct. And it’s not just the drivers, it’s not just the mechanics. They can leave – mechanics, technicians, they can go just about anywhere, and get paid more money with the expertise that they have. So it falls down to this, if we want to make education a centerpiece, as they say, then we need to encompass all of it and take care of all of the issues. People are not lined up to work, to get jobs in the school system. They stay away from them, even the teachers, everybody. It’s just there’s a shortage in just about every field.

Yohe: If there’s not something done to get these pay rates to some kind of regional equal compensation, what other effects may this personnel shortage have on West Virginia education?

White: It’s going to have a drastic effect on education in general, and on the state of West Virginia. We have to take care of those that serve in the education industry. It will just be a ripple effect if it’s not addressed and taken care of, and that includes the benefits as well. You’ve got to understand that over the years benefits have slowly eroded away. The pay is not equal to where it should be. There was a bill that was introduced from the House Education Committee that would have drastically raised service personnel salaries and would have put them comparative to surrounding states. Not only do we think that would have brought more people, I think it would have brought folks that have left the system to come back. You’ve got to understand that most of the majority of the service personnel in this state qualify for federal assistance because of the pain. The average service personnel salary right now in the state of West Virginia, according to the department of education, is $31,000 a year. These hard-working folks have to raise and feed their families. Our government has to be serious about this.