Remember the good old days when the occasional snowstorm was the only thing that could disrupt public schools? Thanks to COVID-19, that is ancient history.

Indian Creek school district officials have adopted a three-option plan to begin the new school year. They hope to do that Aug. 19.

Like their peers elsewhere, officials in the Indian Creek district will be keeping an eye on the state’s COVID-19 four-tier risk assessment map. It uses yellow, orange, red and purple designations for counties, with yellow the lowest risk level and purple the highest.

At present, Jefferson County is in the orange category (Belmont, Monroe and Harrison are yellow). If the situation remains at that level on Aug.19, Indian Creek schools may be able to open for in-person classes. Students and parents not comfortable with that can opt for online learning.

If the situation grows worse, Indian Creek will permit no more than half its students to attend in-person classes at a time. Students would rotate in and out of classrooms so all had some face-to-face instruction each week. Finally, under the third option — a worst-case raging epidemic — all instruction will be online.

We suspect most school systems, both in Ohio and West Virginia, are adopting similar strategies.

What seems to be common to all of them is a refusal to surrender to COVID-19 by keeping school buildings closed. Throughout our area, school officials and teachers are hoping and planning for at least some students to be in classrooms when the new year begins.

Good. No matter how effective “distance learning” is, it is no substitute for students in classrooms, laboratories, vocational shops, etc. The longer children are kept at home, the less they will learn.

Getting our schools reopened as soon as is possible safely ought to be the goal, then, and local residents should be pleased that the overwhelming majority of educators and school officials agree.