Jefferson County Schools To Shift To Mask Optional Policy

JEFFERSON COUNTY, AL — Jefferson County Schools will go back to a mask optional policy beginning Monday, which is how the system began the 2021-22 school year before a spike in COVID-19 cases in the county prompted a shift to mandatory masks.

"Over the last few weeks, we have seen a consistent drop in our positive case count and our close contact numbers," superintendent Walter Gonsoulin said Friday. "Also, we are seeing the numbers decline outside of the school environment."

Students and employees are still required to wear masks on school buses due to an existing federal order.

Gonsoulin said the district reserves the right to make changes to its procedures as needed.

"If the numbers go back up, we might be forced to bring masks back for a time period," he said. "Individual schools or feeder patterns might also be subject to a mask mandate should their numbers rise."

Under the new policy, students and employees will not be excluded from school unless they become symptomatic or test positive for COVID-19.

COVID-19 positive students and staff must meet all of the following criteria before returning to school or 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

"Once again, I encourage you to continue to practice good hygiene and social distancing," Gonsoulin said. "Stay home if you’re sick, and please get vaccinated. Our employees and older students are already eligible for the shot. Hopefully, our younger students will join that category in the coming days. Let’s all work together to keep our numbers low and our doors open."