Many HCS staff to be fully vaccinated by Friday

By the end of the week, a majority of the teachers and staff at Homewood City Schools will be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

At the March 16 school board meeting, the board approved a contract waiver day for March 19 to allow faculty and staff to receive their second round of coronavirus vaccinations. The day will be treated as an eLearning day for students.

The vaccine was not required for teachers and staff but was offered through a partnership the school system had with UAB Medicine.

“We are so grateful to UAB for their partnership,” said Justin Hefner, the superintendent of Homewood City Schools. “We believe — we don’t know this to be true, but we believe — this puts us at about the 70 percent mark regarding employees that will be fully vaccinated.”

During the week of March 7-13, the school system had its “best COVID week” of the entire school year, Hefner said. There were three new positive cases and 11 close contacts.

“We’re really grateful for the work our teachers and administrators do to follow our procedures,” he said.

The board also approved a field trip for the Homewood High School Marching Band, who will be attending the Tournament of Roses Parade on Dec. 28, 2021 through Jan. 2, 2022.

The next school board meeting will be April 20 at 6 p.m.