HOtlSE OF D:LEGATES

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

Butioirya 1, ROOM M-212
1900 KANAWHA BLVD., EAST
Chanctsrorv WV 25305-0470
PHONE (304) 340-3200

September 4, 2020

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice,

Via Email

Dear Governor Justice:

The COVID-19 pandemic presents us with many challenges for which there are no good solutions. How
to provide a solid education to West Virginia's children is certainly one of these challenges.

The county color coding system that your administration has implemented provides a systematic
approach to differentiate between counties where community spread is more or less prevalent. While
many decisions went into this system, we found it to be reasonable and transparent, and we appreciate
that it was developed with guidance from public health experts. The consequences of moving from
green to yellow to orange to red have been laid out in detail, well before the start of the school year.

Across the state and in Monongalia County, we have been playing by these rules for some time, but,
unfortunately, the numbers in Monongalia County are trending in a bad direction. On today's map the
county is orange, but we expect to turn red tomorrow or Saturday, with major implications for our
county schools, including athletics.

Some are advocating for changing the rules at this late date, just days before the first Saturday map is
scheduled to be published, so that positive tests of WVU students no longer count toward the county's
seven-day rolling average. We do not agree with this change. None of us want to see Monongalia
County in the red, but it's not right to change the rules to get the outcome that some people want to
see.

We also think it would be bad public policy. WVU students live in and around Morgantown. Some live in
dorms, and some live off-campus. Some have been responsible and followed public health protocols,
and others haven't. Some are symptomatig have been tested, and are quarantined, but others may be
asymptomatic and still infecting people in Mon County-both inside and outside of the WVU
community. WVU isn't a bubble. Just think about what happened at the bars a few nights ago that led
you to shut them down again.
We urge you to stick with the system that has been in place. Changing it would be bad policy, and it
would give the impression that government officials are changing the rules to get the outcome they
desire.

There are many important interests to be juggled - whether children should be in school, whether sports
should be played, whether there is justification for greater restrictions of some businesses, such as bars,
more than others, and whether there will be repercussions for WVU, the economic driver of this
community. In our minds, during a global pandemic, the health of the public should be the paramount
concern. We hope you will continue to keep public health as the lodestar for the state of West Virginia
as we navigate this crisis. Thank you for considering our opinions and for trying to do what is best for
the citizens of this state.

Sincerely,

Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer

Delegate Evan Hansen

Delegate Rodney Pyles

Delegate Danielle Walker

Delegate John Williams