From The Tribune staff reports
JEFFERSON COUNTY — With cases of the Delta variant rampant in many Alabama schools, the Jefferson County Board of Education has decreed that students, faculty and staff in Jefferson County Schools must wear masks on school campuses, at least until Oct. 1, to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“Our primary goal is to keep students safe and healthy. I am concerned with the growing number of students who are excluded from school. In one week we saw our exclusion numbers jump from 3 percent to 10 percent,” the BOE stated through a press release. “Universal masking will significantly reduce the number of students who are excluded from school due to exposure. Masks will mean more kids stay in class. Masks will mean more students continue learning from inside the school walls.
“With universal maskings, students and employees will be notified of possible exposure. However, these individuals will not be excluded from school unless they become symptomatic.”
The board asked that parents and employees report COVID-19 positive diagnosis or symptomatic exposure to the appropriate school nurse.
According to the BOE guidelines, COVID-19 positive and/or symptomatic exposed individuals must meet the following criteria before returning to school/work:
● Must be isolated for at least 10 days after symptoms first appear
● Must be fever free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications at the end of the 10
day period
● Improvement of all other symptoms