FAIRMONT, W.Va. – On Monday, Marion County Schools were back in session, and the district is continuing precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  

Over winter break, the board of education hosted an optional drive-through testing clinic and continues to work with the Marion County Health Department to ensure the safety of students, parents and staff. 

Students and staff were not required to prove a negative COVID test to go back to school after returning from the holiday period. 

The schools are now following the new CDC guidelines of a quarantine period of 5 days, which was lowered from 10 days.  

All schools are still requiring masks to be worn at all times through March 1. 

Superintendent Donna Hage also encourages safety protocols outside of school as the spread of COVID causes concerns for schools across the country.

“We also need to remember that at our community events, at our athletic events, anytime that we are out going to the mall, going to Walmart, I think it’s important to follow those mitigation strategies so that we can all do our part to ensure that our students and our staff are able to do what they need to do in our schools,” Hage said.  

Even with the rise in omicron cases, Hage said the board of education has not looked at a remote option at this time. 

“It’s always been our goal to have five days face to face instruction because we know that that is what helps students most to increase their achievement as well as for their social, emotional and their mental health, and so anything that we can do to safely provide that for our students and our staff, we are encouraged to do that,” Hage said.