BAY MINETTE – While Baldwin County education officials are delaying the opening of classrooms for another four days after Christmas, policies requiring school employees to report to work after being exposed to COVID-19 remain in place, Superintendent of Education Eddie Tyler said Tuesday.
Tyler sent two emails Monday night, Dec. 7, on COVID-19 policies.
One email to parents stated that public schools will go to virtual learning for one week following the end of the Christmas vacation on Jan. 5. Students will return to classrooms on Jan. 11.
In another email to employees, Tyler reminded workers that they are essential employees and required to come to work.
“As employees, you are expected to report to work even if exposed,” Tyler said in the email. “Under current CDC and National Security guidelines, public education employees are considered essential workers. As a result, you are expected to work even if you have been in contact with someone who has been in diagnosed with COVID-19.”
Tyler said employees are expected to take precautions after returning to work after an exposure. Precautions include wearing masks and checking for symptoms. Any worker who exhibits symptoms should report their condition to their supervisor and follow COVID protocol, including being tested for the coronavirus.
Tyler said Tuesday that he is discussing the COVID requirements with school system lawyers to see if policies should be changed. He said the policies in place have helped reduce the spread of the coronavirus in schools since the academic year began in August.
“We’re following this closely and right now we’re fortunate that our schools are holding everything together and I’ll continue to say that outside activities bring COVID into our schools and I keep pleading to parents please watch those outside activities with their children and we’re doing everything we can to maintain a healthy safe environment,” Tyler said Tuesday. “If things change, we’ll let our employees know and the public know.”
Jesse McDaniel, Baldwin County Alabama Education Association representative, said the AEA is working with the school system to modify the policy.
“The protocol is very detailed, but it’s not perfect,” McDaniel said. “We have found areas where it needs to be improved and we are certainly working on those improvements. Hopefully, before we can return to school for the second semester.”
McDaniel said the policy should distinguish between levels of exposure.
“You can be exposed if you are walking through a hallway at the same time as someone who has COVID or if you are walking through the cafeteria or the gym or whatever,” he said. “If you are within 6 feet of a COVID positive person for more than 15 minutes, which a teacher might be in a classroom, then you should be quarantined. It is exponentially more likely that you have gotten COVID.”
While students will not report to classrooms until Jan. 11, Tyler said instruction will resume online on schedule Jan. 5.
He said the delay in reopening brick and mortar schools is intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19 following the holidays.
“The purpose of this is to increase the amount of time between Christmas and the return to school in hopes that anyone who may have come in contact with or contracted the virus would be done with any illness and no longer contagious prior to children returning to school,” Tyler said. “By returning students to campus on Jan. 11, we have given more than 10 days from New Year's Day and more than two weeks from Christmas. We believe this is ample time to allow the virus to run its course through anyone who may get sick during the break.”
Tyler said the week of distance learning will be a test of online instruction as well as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19. “This will help us identify areas that we need to improve and also identify students who may need additional help in case we have any closures in the winter,” he said.
He said school system officials have no plans to close schools before the Christmas break.
“Folks, I do not want to close our schools,” Tyler said in an email to parents. “For those of you who have emailed me, you know that I have no intentions of closing any of our schools for any time between now and Christmas or after we return in January. Having said that, I want to make sure you understand that there are circumstances in which we may need to close school and I want us to be fully prepared.”
He said closing schools would affect working parents who would need to find daycare for their children as well as having an impact on the local economy.
“I'm also well aware of the mortality rate, the recovery rate and the limited impact this virus has on children,” Tyler said. “For all of these reasons, I will be very selective and very critical in any decision to close a grade level, a school or a set of schools. In the end, I'm the one ultimately responsible for the health and safety of 4,000 employees and more than 30,000 children. I take the safety of your family very seriously and if necessary, I will close the schools but for no more than we need to get through whatever problem we are facing.”
Tyler said the school system and students are better prepared for distance learning than they were when classes closed in March. He said some families still do not have internet access in their areas and will not be able to take part in online learning. Teachers will assist students during the week after the end of the holiday break in an effort to be sure all students are prepared to return to class Jan. 11.
