By Sherri Blevins
Governor Ivey’s statewide mandatory mask mandate ends Friday, but what will that mean for local school children? Governor Ivey detailed changes for restaurants, businesses, and health care facilities, but she did not give guidance for schools that presently require students, staff, teachers, and visitors to wear masks while on school property.
Ashley Bowerman (WSFA) reported that Jennifer Ventress, lead nurse for the Alabama Department of Education, indicated that each school system would choose whether students, faculty, and visitors will wear masks in the classroom for the remainder of the school year. Ventress stated, “Each school system, or Local Education Agency (LEA), will collaborate with their superintendent and their board of education to determine what is best for that school system.”
Ventress made it clear that the Alabama Department of Education would not be giving any schools recommendations on mask-wearing after the order expires. She said, “I think they need to look at their numbers and base it solely on the science. I don’t think that would be my place to make that decision for a school district. I think that needs to be solely based on where they are and the information they have for their local community.”
MVN contacted Dr. Jason Barnett, DeKalb County Schools Superintendent, about the decision for DeKalb County students. His comments follow:
“For over a year now, the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis has impacted Public Education in ways unseen in my lifetime. During this Pandemic and Public Health Crisis, we have worked together with the CDC, ADPH, and the ALSDE to follow their public health guidance to the best of our ability so that we can ensure the well-being of our students, faculty, and community. As
Governor Ivey intends to remove the mask requirement from the public health order on April 9, 2021 – the wearing of Masks will no longer be required for students or staff effective April 12, 2021, but will become a personal decision as to whether the individual feels compelled to utilize a mask for personal safety. We will, of course, support anyone who chooses to utilize a mask for personal protection. This decision was made over the course of the past few months as we have seen a steady decline and an almost non-existent positive rate in our schools for the past several weeks. As we have been for the past year, we will be responsive to the data and will make adjustments as needed. These adjustments may include the requirement of masks in certain situations if it is determined to be warranted or an increase in cases is observed. But as of April 12, 2021, the requirement for a mask in all DeKalb County Schools will expire.”
