Hoover Schools To Bring Students On Campus Full Time Monday

HOOVER, AL — As many surrounding school systems have done, Hoover City Schools will transition to full time on-campus learning for students who had been learning via a hybrid platform beginning Monday.

The transition does not come without numerous restrictions, according to a letter sent to parents and students by the school system.

"Thank you for taking personal responsibility by socially distancing yourself as much as you can, wearing a face covering and committing to frequent hand washing. Parents (and students), you are the first line of defense by talking to your child about how he or she feels and by checking your child’s temperature every morning before school," the letter reads. "Please do not send your child to school with a temperature of 100 degrees or higher or if exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19."

The school system has taken several steps to exercise caution, including:

• Tracking COVID-19 data and its impact on the schools and community and will continue to do so.
• Delaying the opening of HCS from the original start date of August 6 to August 20 to allow continued tracking of COVID-19 and to transition to a staggered schedule.
• Starting school with three options: virtual option, in-person two-day staggered option, and an option for high school students to take blended classes (some classes in-person and other classes virtually).
• Bringing elementary students back to school for four-days of in-person instruction on September 21 as younger students are less likely to contract and transmit COVID-19.
• Sharing COVID-19 Tracking Dashboard publicly on September 22 (data updated daily).

The letter outlines the system's protocol moving forward:

1. We will continue to track and share COVID-19 data.
2. We will continue conversations about the safety of our students with the Alabama Department of Public Health, Jefferson County Health Department, Alabama State Department of Education, and other state and community agencies.
3. We will socially distance our students to the best of our ability, but it will not be six feet. Please see the latest update on guidance from the Jefferson County Department of Health.
4. Partitions will be used as needed and appropriate.
5. Face coverings are REQUIRED and will remain a requirement pending further notice.

"We can't ensure six feet for social distancing," the letter says. "Therefore, we realize more of our students and school personnel will be in close proximity with others who may become ill which means due to contact tracing more individuals are likely to be sent home. However, more of our students will be in school on any given day for in-person instruction than in our current staggered schedule."

Approximately 30 percent of the student body will still learn remotely for the remainder of the semester.

Mountain Brook recently released its plan for on-campus learning, follwing Vestavia Hills announcement earlier in the month.