WINFIELD – An attorney is calling for the Putnam County Board of Education to ignore the state’s color-coded COVID-19 map and put students back in the classroom.
Connor Robertson filed his complaint against the school board September 16 in Putnam Circuit Court. Robertson is an attorney with Weston Robertson, which is based in Huntington.
According to the complaint, Robertson says he is trying to protect the constitutional rights of his two elementary school-aged children to an education. Like most parents in Putnam County, Robertson says he opted for the in-person model for his children before the school year started.
Robertson
But because of the county’s “orange” code on the state map, Putnam County students have not been permitted to attend classes in person so far this school year. The current plan is a color-coded county-by-county system that measures, in general, a county’s daily average of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. Each Saturday, the statewide map is locked in for schools for the following week. Counties with the lowest cumulative average of active cases are labeled green, followed by yellow, gold, orange and red.
In the complaint, Robertson says the school board has “trampled” those constitutional rights. Thus, he seeks a preliminary injunction to have the school board cease following the West Virginia Schools Re-entry Metrics and Protocols program. He also seeks a ruling prohibiting the board from enforcing the unconstitutional and discriminatory portions of the Metrics Map, specifically that the board shut down schools when the county is “orange” or “red” on the map.
“The WV Metrics Map strips Putnam County children of their constitutional right to a thorough and an efficient system of free schools,” the complaint states. “The WV Metrics Map also discriminates against Putnam County children by favoring other counties in the State of West Virginia in providing differing levels of public education based primarily on population and access to COVID-19 testing.”
Robertson says irreparable harm will continue to his children without the preliminary injunction.
Robertson’s complaint is similar to one filed last week in Kanawha County by another attorney.
“Due to ‘orange’ status, petitioner’s children remain at home with little to no in-person instruction while other children are receiving a thorough and efficient public education through in-person attendance in the classroom throughout the State of West Virginia,” the complaint states. “Petitioner’s children and other Putnam County children should not continue to suffer an inferior education just because they live in a more heavily populated county.
“Respondent Putnam County Board of Education should be allowed and is in fact constitutionally and legislatively mandated to provide equal schooling opportunities for all of its children.”
Robertson says his children received about 20 minutes of online access to a Putnam County teacher during the first week of school. He believes children whose parents opted for the virtual plan before the school year “received a great deal more education” than his children.
He also notes that the educational experience also includes field trips, athletics, school government, driver’s education and other extracurricular activities that “enhance the education of our children.” He also notes the potential loss of athletic scholarships because of limited access.
He said counties with higher populations, such as Putnam, are adversely affected by the metrics map system. He compares it with Wirt County. As of the drafting of the complaint, Putnam County had seen 11,818 COVID-19 tests performed on residents. Wirt County had seen 576.
Robertson also says that the goal of the metrics map never has been identified or explained. But he says if the goal is to diminish the infection rate in the state, it “has been a failure as the state continues to be first in the rate of infection.”
“Each day that passes, plaintiff’s children lose the opportunity to learn,” the complaint states. “They lose the opportunity to socialize. They lose the opportunity to develop. A child’s opportunity to learn through public education is finite. It does not last forever. Similarly, a child’s opportunity to play certain sports is finite. It does not last forever.
“When the right taken away from our children is one that is so fundamental in our society, such as education, any deprivation of this right is irreparable.”
Robertson seeks the preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of the WV Metrics Map and a preliminary injunction ordering the Putnam County school board to assume control of its schools until such time as state government amends the map to not infringe on the rights of children. He also seeks the order declaring the WV Metrics Map unconstitutional.
Robertson is being represented by attorney David A. Sims of Vienna. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Philip Stowers.
Putnam Circuit Court case number 20-C-148