Tuscaloosa County Schools System: Alabama's Safer Apart Order & Masks In Our Schools

Press release from the Tuscaloosa County School System:

April 7, 2021

April 7, 2021

From the Office of the Superintendent

TCSS Families, Faculty, and Staff,

Alabama’s current Safer at Home Order, which includes the state mask mandate, expires Friday, April 9, at 5 p.m. At that time, Alabama will transition to a new Safer Apart Order, in which masks are no longer mandated statewide, but individuals are strongly encouraged to wear a mask when in public and in close contact with other people. As we have throughout this school year, TCSS will continue operating under the current state health order. When the state mask mandate expires on April 9, TCSS will no longer require students, faculty, and staff to wear a mask. However, masks will certainly be allowed. The Safer Apart Order recommends the use of masks when in public and in close contact with others. In keeping with the Order, TCSS encourages the same.

Although this school year has brought unprecedented challenges, TCSS is extremely proud of the hard work from our educators, support staff, students, and families, that has kept our schools open for in-person instruction since August 20, 2020. We have learned to live with masks and many other inconveniences, as we worked together to fight COVID-19. Now, our positive COVID-19 cases within TCSS have dropped to the lowest numbers we have seen all school year. With outstanding support from DCH Health System, faculty and staff members have had the opportunity to be vaccinated for COVID-19. We will continue to be vigilant about sanitation procedures, social distancing when possible, and good hygiene practices in our schools. We ask our families to support these efforts and do the same when you are away from school. If changes occur, and we need to make adjustments to our procedures, we will communicate this to our families. Let’s continue working together to have a successful finish to this challenging, but meaningful, school year.

This press release was produced by the Tuscaloosa County School System. The views expressed here are the author’s own.