The Jefferson County Health Officer, dr. Mark Wilson, said on Friday that there were no major outbreaks of COVID-19 at schools that held personal classes during the pandemic in or near Birmingham.
Wilson gave a summary of the fight against COVID-19 during the annual public health speech in Jefferson County. Last summer, he consulted with school officials in the district and issued recommendations that students in primary grades can go to school in person while older students attend hybrid or virtual classes.
By October, Wilson said it had become clear that many older students and their families began to suffer during virtual learning. At the same time, public health workers have not detected any major COVID outbreaks at schools offering personal classes, Wilson said. Therefore, he revised the recommendations to encourage more personal learning for middle and high school students.
“We had COVID outbreaks among school children,” Wilson said. “But they were mostly associated with extracurricular activities or team sports.”
“Overall, schools have been successful from an infectious point of view,” Wilson said.
Public schools were a flashpoint during the pandemic. While most schools in Alabama offered personalized classes throughout the year, some districts only recently returned to school buildings. Many Birmingham City Schools students returned to school just four days a week on Monday, more than a year after schools closed in March 2020.
Many schools in other parts of the country still offer virtual education. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer urged districts Friday to consider disrupting personal classes at high schools while the state struggles with a COVID boom. Critics of the school’s closure have said it offers little public health benefit while harming children’s educational and mental well – being.
Wilson said mask requirements play a key role in keeping students and staff safe during personal classes. The mask ordinance ends Friday at 5 p.m., but some districts will still need it on campus.