Hoover school board sets new guidelines for mask requirements

The Hoover Board of Education on Tuesday night voted in favor of a new policy regarding whether students, employees and visitors will have to wear masks in schools.

The current policy requiring masks was set to expire on Sept. 20, but per Superintendent Dee Fowler’s recommendation, the new plan will require the overall percentage of COVID-19 cases throughout the school district to be 1% or lower for two consecutive weeks before masks become optional.  

If masks do become optional, the board requires that the overall percentage of COVID-19 cases be above 1% for two consecutive weeks for masks to be required again. 

The decision was reached after parents on both sides of the issue voiced concerns. Some said the board’s temporary mask mandate was a good decision, while others said they should get to decide if their child wears a mask. 

“I know what’s best for me and my family,” one mother said. “My husband and I know what’s best for me and my family, and we are not discrediting anybody else if they are doing what’s best for their family. We’re asking for the respect for our family.”

Another mother who is a pediatrician cited several studies saying masks are effective at preventing the transmission of COVID-19. Both she and her colleagues have had exposure to patients they later found out had COVID-19, and she believes one of the reasons she and her colleagues did not contract the disease as well is because they were wearing surgical masks.

After hearing a suggestion from a parent during public comment, Fowler suggested that there be a matrix to determine when masks are required. 

If masks do become optional, social distancing procedures will change slightly, Fowler said. Parents of children who don’t wear masks will be notified of close-contact cases if their child was within 6 feet of a student who tests positive for COVID-19, unlike the current 3 feet rule for masked children. 

Parents are still asked to monitor their children for symptoms, and children who are not showing symptoms will be allowed to come back to school.

Fowler said after Sept. 20, the school system will release a weekly report to parents to let them know if a mask mandate is still in place.

“Everybody wants to talk about what’s right and what we need to do. Well, I’m going to tell you what’s right in my opinion,” Fowler said. “What’s right, in my opinion, is that everyone gets on the same page. If a child is sick, if a child wakes up in the morning with a fever, they need to stay home.” 

Fowler said he has heard several examples of parents who knew their child was sick but sent them to school anyway. “I can tell you a case of a child that came to school with COVID and the parent had given them a test and knew that the child was positive,” he said. 

Fowler said he has been in constant contact with Alabama Department of Public Health officials and trusts their judgment, but he also thinks it is a good idea to have a system in place to track the needs of the school system. 

“We can get mad at a lot of things, but what we need to get mad at is parents not looking out for children,” Fowler said. 

The Hoover Board of Education also changed its next meeting from Oct. 12 to Oct. 19.