A West Virginia teachers union on Monday filed a legal challenge to the state’s color-coded map that determines whether counties can hold in-person public school classes and athletic competitions during the coronavirus pandemic.
The West Virginia Education Association said the filing in Kanawha County Circuit Court seeks to replace the school reentry map that has undergone multiple changes by Republican Gov. Jim Justice and state officials with one compiled by independent health experts.
The map uses five colors ranging from green to red to determine a county’s public school status, depending on the local spread of virus cases. But critics, including the WVEA, said the sheer number of changes to the map has been confusing.
“Our members have watched the constant manipulation of the map,” union President Dale Lee said in a statement. “As each rendition failed to provide the desired results sought by our state leaders, additional changes were made.”