CHARLESTON, W.Va (WTAP) – Governor Jim Justice does not believe any West Virginia schools should be playing sports if they’re not holding in-person classes.

School systems in “red” or “orange” on the state’s color-coded alert map are restricted to offering only remote learning when they open next week.

But the governor says some schools-regardless of what level or color their counties are-may be thinking of voluntarily offering only remote learning.

”If they’re doing so in the interest of safety, we absolutely can’t have kids out on the football fields or kids playing volleyball, and the school’s not open,” Justice said Friday afternoon. “There’s just no way you can have both. We absolutely support, if a county wants to go 100% remote, they can go 100% remote; that’s fine. But if they’re 100% remote, they can’t play sports.”

Justice announced Friday the state will provide $50 million for personal protective equipment to county school systems.

That’s in response to criticism-mostly from teacher organizations-that educators may not have the PPE they need to start the school year.

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