Children in three Alabama school districts can return from spring break mask free today. The superintendents of Birmingham City Schools, Bessemer City Schools, and Fairfield City Schools jointly decided to go mask optional because of Jefferson County’s currently moderate COVID-19 risk level.
Dr. Autumm Jeter is the superintendent of Bessemer City Schools. She said her district sent out a message encouraging students who traveled over break to return with masks.
“In the event that our numbers in Jefferson County begin to increase, and there’s no threshold at this moment, or if we see a particular increase in district, we can go back to a mask mandate at a particular location or throughout the district," she said. "We’re going to treat that school by school at this time.”
Jeter said her district can reinstate the mask mandate if cases go up again.
“We will continue to follow the recommended isolation period, we still have our signs up regarding social distancing. Our signs on the door say we strongly encourage masks. We have sanitizer stations around and PPE in our classes," she said. "There’s a laundry list of items we have in place. Those are some that you can actually see, and we will continue those.”
Updated COVID numbers in each school district can be found on the Alabama Department of Public Health’s COVID Dashboard.
