Birmingham area school systems take different approaches to masks

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Schools in the Birmingham-Hoover metro area were looking forward to normalcy until the Delta variant caused a rise in COVID-19 cases.

The various school systems have handled recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Alabama Department of Public Health differently.

Some school systems, such as Hoover, have required that all students and staff wear masks regardless of vaccination status, while others strongly recommend mask use.

The Shelby County school system today (Thursday, Aug. 26) switched its policy and will begin requiring masks from Aug. 31 to Oct. 1.

Dr. Wesley Willeford, medical director of disease control for the Jefferson County Department of Health, said there are reports from across the country that children are a little bit more likely to get sick with the Delta variant of COVID-19 than they would have been with the previous version of the disease.

“That does give us pause because we want to make sure that the school environment can be as safe as possible, but also we really want to see kids to be able to have in-person school, and it is really trying to balance those two priorities,” Willeford said.

The best way to keep children safe in schools and continue in-person education is to have universal masking in schools, Willeford said. He is concerned about schools that don’t have mask mandates and the consequences that could have for students.

“I believe deep down that we will see more cases of COVID-19 where masks are not required,” Willeford said. “It really depends on the number of people that take the recommendation and actually abide by the recommendation. …  If we have a large uptake with that, you might not have a lot of cases, but I’m afraid if you have school where you see a lot of people not wanting to do it and not wanting to wear masks, then I think we’re going to see a lot of COVID-19 cases there.” 

Willeford believes that once there is enough data to support giving vaccines to children, it will change the conversation about how comfortable parents are with vaccinating their children. Once that happens, children will have a stronger immunity against the virus and will have a much lesser chance of having severe symptoms, Willeford said.

Here’s a summary of COVID-19 policies and protocols in place at various school systems in the metro area:

HOOVER CITY SCHOOLS

The Hoover Board of Education is requiring students and staff to wear masks for the first 30 days of school regardless of vaccination status.

The mask mandate began on the first day of school, Aug. 10, and will end Sept. 20.

After 30 days, schools will strongly recommend that students wear facial coverings at school. 

Students and staff who are feeling sick before school or have a temperature more than 100 degrees should not attend school. According to the school’s reopening plan, “most in-school positive transmissions last year were caused by individuals who had a fever or showed other symptoms before coming to school.” 

Children who test positive for the virus will be isolated, and their parents will be asked to pick them up from school. School nurses will report positive cases to the Alabama Department of Public Health and will notify parents if their child has had close contact with someone that has tested positive for COVID-19 or has exhibited symptoms. 

Students must wear a mask on school buses because the Alabama Department of Education has determined that federal law requiring masks on public transportation applies to school buses. Students must sit in assigned seats in case contact tracing is needed. 

Visitors are allowed in schools but are asked to monitor their health and will not be permitted in schools if they are exhibiting signs of COVID-19.

A group of 32 fifth-grade students and two teachers at Trace Crossings Elementary School has been switched to remove learning for "a short period of time" after 25% of the students in the group and one of the teachers tested positive for COVID-19.

"Learning remotely is not our preference, but potentially seeing a whole cohort test positive is certainly not our preference either," Superintendent Dee Fowler said in a letter to parents on Wednesday, Aug. 25.

The school system recently updated its COVID-19 dashboard in an effort to provide more detailed information, Fowler said. For the week of Aug. 18-24, 155 students tested positive out of 13,340 in the entire school district. That's about 1% and reflects only the number of students testing positive in that week. It is not a cumulative count for the school year. Fifteen employees tested positive during Aug. 18-24. That's less than 1% of the total number of employees in the district.

"Thanks to your diligence and the diligence of our staff, we are 'holding our own with the virus," Fowler wrote. "But please know that we have staff and children in the hospital that are very sick with the COVID-19 virus. Their stories, as you can imagine, are heartbreaking. ... Our number one priority is student safety, followed with a laser focus on keeping students in school. We will work hard to accomplish both."

Hoover school district leaders are asking principals to incorporate 3-foot spacing between people where practical and to be as creative as possible with lunch, physical education and other activities that bring children close together, Fowler said.

Leaders in the school district continue to track and study the numbers in Hoover schools and other nearby school districts, but it's too early to jump to conclusions about what those numbers mean in terms of the effectiveness of masks, Fowler said.

VESTAVIA HILLS CITY SCHOOLS

The Vestavia Hills school system is strongly encouraging mask usage, but masks are not required unless riding on school buses. 

Students who are exhibiting symptoms will be isolated, and their parents will be asked to pick up them as soon as possible. 

School nurses will report positive COVID-19 cases to the Alabama Department of Public Health. 

Students may be exempt from quarantine if they are vaccinated, show no symptoms, have tested positive for the virus three months prior to contact and the student was wearing a mask and was 3 feet away from the infected person.

Visitors are strongly encouraged to wear masks while in schools but are not required to do so.  But visitors will not be allowed in the schools during lunchtime. 

HOMEWOOD CITY SCHOOLS

The Homewood school system requires facial coverings for all students, faculty and visitors. 

Parents are asked to monitor their children for COVID-19 symptoms every morning, keep them home when they’re sick and pick them up from school if they are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. 

School nurses will keep students isolated and wait with students while they are waiting on their parents and will report positive COVID-19 cases for both faculty and staff to the Alabama Department of Public Health. 

After a positive case is reported, the school system will begin contact tracing and will not allow the student in the school for 10 days. Students will only be permitted back on campus when they are free of fever and symptoms have improved. 

Visitors will not be allowed in schools during lunchtime and will not be permitted on campus if they are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. 

SHELBY COUNTY SCHOOLS

After initially not requiring masks in schools, the Shelby County school system now will require everyone to wear masks while indoors, beginning Monday, Aug. 30, and continuing through Oct. 1.

The decision was made due to “the potential adverse impact on instruction and school operations,” Superintendent Lewis Brooks said in a letter to the school community.

“Our goal is to have as traditional a school year as possible, but this health crisis continues to force us to respond and change course in ways that we have never experienced,” Brooks wrote. “This temporary change will we welcomed for some and frustrating for others. However, we feel strongly it is necessary if we are going to positively impact the rising number of cases in our community. We also feel that this gives us the best chance to stay in school without a complete shutdown.”

Students will not be asked to wear a mask during recess, lunch or physical education, and students will be given mask breaks during the day, Brooks wrote.

The school district will continue to implement other mitigation strategies, including frequent cleaning, hand washing and spacing as much as possible, he said.

According to the Alabama Department of Public Health back-to-school toolkit, only students who test positive for COVID-19 or have symptoms related to the virus will be sent home for isolation or quarantine if all students are masked, Brooks said. With temporary universal masking, the number of people in close contact with infected people who have to quarantine will be reduced, and more students will be able to remain in school, he said.

Students still are being asked to bring their own water bottles to school, and students and faculty are asked to stay home if they notice symptoms before going to school.

Visitors are allowed in schools, but some schools might have restrictions. 

Students will use Google Classroom or Schoology in case students are required to stay home and will have access to “digital curriculum content to support full-time virtual students in grades 6-12 with dedicated virtual teachers.” 

MOUNTAIN BROOK CITY SCHOOLS

Mountain Brook Schools require all faculty and students to wear facial coverings indoors per Alabama Department of Public Health recommendations. However, students and staff are not required to wear face coverings while outside. 

School nurses are in charge of handling positive cases, screening students and faculty for the virus, quarantining students that have tested positive, and contacting parents of children exhibiting symptoms and asking them to pick up their child as soon as possible. 

Visitors are allowed in schools but will be screened for COVID-19 before entering the building. Schools will keep record of all visitors before allowing them to enter. 

Students that are unable to attend school because of COVID-19 will have excused absences and will be able to complete classwork online if they feel well enough. 

Schools will record seating assignments and ensure that all students are socially distanced while in the classroom. 

TRUSSVILLE CITY SCHOOLS

After strongly recommending masks but not requiring them, the Trussville Board of Education has recently required parents to give their children masks before going to school in the morning but is supplying masks to children when necessary.

The school system is following the Alabama Department of Public Health’s Back-to-school Toolkit and U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for notifying parents when their child has come in close contact with someone testing positive, and for when students must be sent home, spokesman Jason Gaston said.

Water fountains will be used as “filling stations,” requiring students to bring their own water bottles to refill during the day. Students are required to stay 3 feet apart from each other and are socially distanced in the classroom. 

School nurses will give a weekly report to the state COVID-19 dashboard as well as send students home when they are sick or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 and notify parents if their child has been exposed to the virus. 

Students who have tested positive for COVID-19 will be able to continue their classwork on Schoology and will have a quarantine facilitator to monitor their progress on schoolwork and health. 

BIRMINGHAM CITY SCHOOLS

The Birmingham school system updated its COVID-19 guidelines a week before school started, requiring all students and faculty to wear face coverings regardless of vaccination status. 

“It’s now time for us to focus on the new school year,” Superintendent Mark Sullivan said in a message to parents. “We are still in a pandemic, so we will strictly follow science-based health and safety protocols in all BCS schools and facilities in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”

Students will be required to socially distance as much as possible and will have assigned seating in the classroom. Custodial staff will be cleaning common areas of schools more frequently, including cafeterias and bathrooms. 

School visitors will be required to wear masks and will only be allowed in the school lobby, with no more than 10 visitors being allowed in schools at one time. 

Schools will also have isolation rooms for students who are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, and school nurses will notify the students’ parents to pick up their child as soon as possible. 

Parents are asked to notify school leaders if their child has tested positive for COVID-19 as well as monitor their health every morning before school. When the school is notified about a positive case, the Child Health Services department will conduct contact tracing, evaluate the risks to students and staff exposed to the virus and report findings to a school administrator and instructional superintendent.