Nichols unveils proposals on how to transition from mandated masking in Madison schools

MADISON – Madison City Schools Superintendent unveiled his two proposals to the school board on Nov. 4 he hopes will transition the district from mandated masks to optional.  An earlier proposal last month was rejected by the school board.

“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.

The proposals for a COVID matrix, which would determine the school district’s mask policy, were outlined in an email to parents on Friday. They are:

Proposal 1

When Madison County reaches the MODERATE(Yellow) level as designated by the ADPH, mask will become OPTIONAL in the Madison City School District.

School Buses Facial coverings will remain mandatory for passengers and drivers on school buses. The Alabama Department of Public Health has interpreted the federal order regarding facial covering requirements on all forms of public transportation to include public school buses. This requirement supersedes the facial covering policy of the schools.

This matrix will terminate on May 25, 2022 unless terminated by the Board prior to this date.

Proposal 2

When Madison County reaches the MODERATE(Yellow) level as designated by the ADPH, mask will become OPTIONAL at the high school level in the Madison City School District. When the Madison County level reaches LOW(Blue) as designated by the ADPH, mask will become OPTIONAL at the middle and elementary level in the Madison City School District. Until all schools are at a mask optional level, the Central Office building will require a mask.

School Buses Facial coverings will remain mandatory for passengers and drivers on school buses. The Alabama Department of Public Health has interpreted the federal order regarding facial covering requirements on all forms of public transportation to include public school buses. This requirement supersedes the facial covering policy of the schools.

The Elementary and Middle School Level requirement will revert to a MODERATE designation 45 days after a vaccine is released to the public for children 5-11 years of age. This matrix will terminate on May 25, 2022 unless terminated by the Board prior to this date.

Since Nichols’ first proposed matrix was voted down by the school board, not only has the number of COVID cases decreased significantly, other school districts in north Alabama have decided to move away from mask mandates — strengthening his case.

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.

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.

Even as local school districts end mask mandates, the Alabama Department of Public Health is urging K-12 schools to leave universal masking in place to avoid COVID-19 outbreaks.

Assistant State Health Officer Karen Landers, a pediatrician, last week said children should wear masks because of the high number of pediatric cases and the difficulty of maintaining social distance within schools.

“We’re talking about an indoor setting. We’re talking about kids being close together in a congregate setting for a period of time,” Landers said. “Masks work. We need to keep this layer in place until such time as we have lower levels of community transmission, lower rates of percent positivity, and higher levels of vaccination.”

The issue has left parents of Madison students deeply divided. Some applaud Landers’ assertions that masks must stay, especially through the holidays. Others ask, if we do not stop mandating masks in schools when numbers are so low — then when?

The Madison City Schools Board of Education meeting on Nov. 4 will start at 5 p.m. at the MCS central office on Celtic Drive. You can find more information at www.madisoncity.k12.al.us.