At a called Board of Education Meeting on August 5 the Bibb County Board of Education adopted by a 3 to 1 vote a mask policy recommended by Superintendent McGee. Board Member Mike McMillan was absent, Billie Dailey voted No, the remaining Board Members voted in favor of the new policy. The Alabama Department of Public Health released a Back to School Guidance document to public school officials dated July 30, 2021, authored by State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris. You can find the entire public document at this link.

According to Dr. Harris, his recommendations, which include separation and masking guidelines, are based on CDC guidelines for reopening schools. You can also find the CDC Covid Handbook at this link. One interesting note can be found on page 9 of this handbook regarding the prohibition against taking disclipinary action for not wearing a mask.

The Superintendent referred us to the Board’s Facebook Page version of the announcement which reads as follows:

August 5, 2021
Beginning on Monday, August 9, the BOE will require masks while indoors and on school buses for all students, employees, parents, and other campus visitors. Masks will not be required for outdoor activities. The board of education has made this decision based on the strong recommendations from our own local doctors, as well as the strong recommendations from the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Based on guidance from the ADPH Back-to-School toolkit released this week, there will be three quarantine exemptions for students identified as close contacts – within 3-6 feet from an infected student: 1) students who have been vaccinated; 2) students who have had the COVID infection within the last 90 days; and, 3) students who have been masked. We feel certain that this third exemption will spare us an extraordinary number of potential students placed in quarantine so that possibly only those students with positive infections would be required to miss school. The board of education realizes that this decision is unpopular with many students, parents, and employees, and yet others have been just as vocal in expressing their support for this requirement. Please know the board cares deeply for the health and safety of all students and employees, and we eagerly anticipate the review and reversal of this policy as transmission rates diminish and the lagging vaccination rate continues to climb in our county.
Thank you for your support and understanding.

 

The Facebook announcement does not address all of the questions that have already appeared in social media postings following the Thursday board meeting. The next meeting of the Board of Education is scheduled for Tuesday, August 10 at 5:00 p.m.