Photo by Jordan Hays.
18th Street Trees
Trees line 18th Street in downtown Homewood.
Area schools were looking forward to normalcy until the Delta variant caused a rise in COVID-19 cases throughout the U.S. All school systems in the Birmingham area, including Homewood, have updated their guidelines per Center for DIsease Control and Alabama Department of Public Health recommendations.
Homewood City Schools
Like many schools in the area, Homewood City Schools require 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 are 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, HCS will begin contact tracing with ADPH assistance and will not allow the student in the school for 10 days and will only be permitted back on campus when they are fever free and symptoms have improved.
Visitors will not be allowed in schools during lunch time and will not be permitted on campus if they are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.
Around the Area
Different school systems have handled the recommendations differently. Some schools have required that all students and staff wear masks regardless of vaccination status while others strongly recommend mask use.
Several health organizations have strongly recommended standard prevention measures such as masking and socially distancing including the Centers for Disease Control, Alabama Department of Public Health and the Infectious Disease Society.
“We’re beginning to see some reports across the country that children are a little bit more likely to get sick than they would’ve been with this prior version,” said Dr. Wesley Willeford, medical director of disease control for the Jefferson County Department of Health. “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.”
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 and 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.
Mountain Brook City Schools
Mountain Brook Schools require all faculty and students to wear facial coverings indoors per ADPH 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.
Hoover City Schools
During the first month of school, Hoover City Schools will require students and staff to wear masks for the first 30 days of school regardless of vaccination status.
The mask mandate by the Hoover Schools 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 that 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 that 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 ADPH and will notify parents if their child has had close contact with someone that has tested positive for COVID-19 or has exhibited symptoms.
Schools are required to have a mask mandate for students riding school buses due to a federal order and will have students 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.
Vestavia Hills City Schools
Some parents of students are frustrated and divided over an optional mask mandate policy by Vestavia Hills City Schools. The school system will strongly encourage mask usage, but it will not be required unless riding on school buses.
After a school board meeting on Monday, Aug. 9, parents were outraged after the board did not change their decision on masking. Members of the board, along with Superintendent Todd Freeman and assistant superintendents Patrick Martin and Aimee Rainey, met with parents for about an hour after the meeting, along with board members.
“Given what’s happening in our community at large I don’t believe it’s a wise decision to leave it up to individual families and young children to decide whether or not they wear masks when their behavior affects so many others,” said Karen Templeton, a Vestavia Hills City Schools parent.
Students that are exhibiting symptoms will be isolated and their parents will be asked to pick up them as soon as possible.
Positive COVID-19 cases will be reported to the Alabama Department of Public Health by school nurses.
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 three feet away from the infected person.
Visitors are strongly encouraged to wear masks while in schools but are not required to and will not be allowed in the schools during lunch time.
