CHARLESTON, WV – Gov. Jim Justice issued the following statement:
“As a coach and someone who is in our schools all the time, I appreciate how much our extracurricular activities, including our marching bands, mean to our students, parents, and communities.
“Yesterday, the WVSSAC announced that our marching bands would not be able to perform at extracurricular activities this fall. This decision was made without my input.
“Today, I directed our medical experts to work with the WVSSAC and the Department of Education, and go back to the drawing board to find a safe way for our marching bands to do what they love to do: perform.
“I am now proud to announce that the WVSSAC and our medical experts have developed new guidelines for our marching bands to be able to perform on our football fields this fall.
“Our medical experts evaluated guidelines from the National Federation of High School Sports, and the West Virginia Bandmasters Association and put a plan together that keeps our band members socially distanced and as safe as possible, while allowing them to perform in the stadium on game days and allowing their families to watch their performances.
“The WVSSAC will release the new marching band guidelines..”