Mountain Brook Postpones Start To School Year

MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL — Amid concerns over the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and preparations for keeping students healthy, the Mountain Brook Board of Education voted Thursday to postpone the beginning of the school year to August 20. Students were originally scheduled to start August 11.

Officials said the decision was made to provide the school system more time to prepare buildings, train employees, and finalize logistics before instruction begins.

The system has also decided to start the school year in accordance with an alternate plan. At the secondary level, this means that students at the junior high and high school who selected the traditional option will be assigned to one of two groups and attend school on continuous, alternating days from week to week.

Families of secondary students will receive an email from their school regarding which group their student is in. Attendance days will be determined by a student's last name.

The schedule is as follows:

The plan limits the number of students in the buildings at a given time and aims at providing better social distancing during the school day. The schedule does not apply to elementary school students, or any students who chose the virtual learning option.

The Mountain Brook Schools Extended Day Program will not be offered at the start of the school year but will be reviewed after nine weeks in order to help prevent cross-contamination of virus exposure between and among groups of students from different classrooms.

Superintendent Dr. Dicky Barlow said the plan will be in place for a minimum of four weeks and have been updated in the system's reopening plan.

"We are weighing all data variables as they are presented to us and making decisions that we feel best balance the risks and benefits at that moment," Barlow said in a statement Thursday. "That is why we are limiting our plans to finite timelines. We will be re-evaluating those variables regularly and will modify accordingly."

Barlow added, "Similar to many of you, we hoped to begin the school year on time under normal circumstances. Due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases across our county, however, it became evident that we needed to pivot to protect our students, staff, and all of their families."