Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Education

Vestavia City Schools reverses mask mandate

The system has reverted to its optional mask policy for staff, visitors and students, only three weeks after enacting a mask mandate

STOCK

Vestavia Hills City Schools has reverted to its optional mask policy for staff, visitors and students, only three weeks after enacting a mask mandate that parents and community members pressured the school district into implementing.

In a statement made Friday, Superintendent Todd Freeman noted “very encouraging trend[s] of decreases in COVID-19 cases” in Vestavia Hills schools, Jefferson County and the surrounding areas as the reason for the reversal.

According to the school system’s COVID-19 dashboard, there were 26 positive cases among students systemwide, as of Sept. 17, a substantial decrease from the 48 positive cases reported the previous week.

“The peak in positive cases in Jefferson County during this current wave of COVID-19 took place the week of August 23. Positives and close contacts among VHCS students also peaked that same week,” Freeman said in a statement Monday. “Since then, our number of positives have decreased in a similar manner as the county where there has been no mask mandate. These patterns are also similar to previous waves we experienced last school year when there was a statewide mask mandate.”

Freeman also mentioned that with the mask mandate in place, there were “several times each day when masks were not required,” such as during band class, PE and athletic competitions, practices, and games, and while transitioning between buildings.

“Our goal continues to be to have students focused on learning in a safe and nurturing environment,” Freeman said. “The most important part of our health and wellness plan is for staff and students to stay at home when they are sick.”

In late August, a group of over 700 Vestavia residents, many of them doctors and medical researchers with children in the school system, demanded Vestavia schools implement a mask mandate, as was recommended in the “Back to School Guidance 2021-2022” released by the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

With this reversal, Vestavia will return back to being one of the few school districts in the surrounding area that has not mandated universal masking.

John is a reporter at the Alabama Political Reporter. You can contact him at [email protected] or via Twitter.

More from APR

Congress

The bill appropriates more than $786 million for Alabama priorities, $232 million of which was secured by Britt.

Education

The tax renewal secures a crucial stream of funding for the next three decades.

Featured Opinion

"School choice" has been and always will be a scam that harms poor kids while propping up private and religious organizations with public money.

Opinion

Alabama lost a humble, legendary genius on Christmas Eve. Willie Ruff is his name.