Madison County Schools to end mask mandate, could Madison City Schools be next?
MADISON COUNTY – While Madison City Schools Superintendent of Education Dr. Ed Nichols prepares to unveil his updated matrix for the school district’s COVID response, especially in regards to masking, another local school district is dropping their masking mandate.
The Madison County School District announced this week that masks will be optional beginning Nov. 1 except on school buses, as long as COVID cases throughout the school district are below .5 percent positivity. The district’s school board unanimously made the decision at their Tuesday night meeting.
Masks will still be required at schools with a 2.5 percent positivity rate, according to the district. If a school’s positivity rate exceeds 5 percent, masks will be required and nurses will be required to take up close contact exclusions.
Nichols announced Tuesday he will try again to transition the Madison City school district from being mask mandated to optional.
“During the past several weeks, we have been blessed to see a decline in positive cases of COVID in our district, community, and state,” Nichols said. “Last week, we experienced nine positive cases out of 13,600 students and staff in the district. This number fell from close to 100 in early September.”
According to Nichols, the statewide school numbers last week showed 1,000 cases out of 800,000 students and staff, which is a decline from approximately 8,500 in early September.
Decatur City Schools will end its mask mandate Nov. 1, making masks optional. Athens City Schools ended its mask mandate Oct. 18, while Morgan County ended theirs on Sept. 16. Limestone County did not implement a mask mandate this school year. Huntsville City Schools still require students and staff to wear masks.
Details of the new matrix proposal for Madison City Schools will be made public on Friday, Nichols said. He will then take it before the school board on Nov. 4. The meeting starts at 5 p.m. at the MCS central office on Celtic Drive.
