Baldwin & Gulf Shores students will start year masked

Baldwin & Gulf Shores students will start year masked
Baldwin County and Gulf Shores will require that face masks or face coverings be worn by students in 2nd grade and higher while inside school buildings and at indoor school events. The mask mandate also applies to teachers and visitors.
“I believe that this decision is in the best interest of our students, staff and community,” said superintendent Matt Akin for a news release. “We will regularly monitor the COVID related data in our schools and community, and we will make the mask requirement optional as soon as possible.
“Our goal is to keep the Gulf Shores family safe and healthy and to provide in-person instruction for the entire school year.”
Baldwin County’s Eddie Tyler was the first superintendent to announce that students would be required to wear masks when they returned to school.
“While I have many responsibilities, I have none greater than ensuring the health and safety of our children and our employees. Therefore, it’s time to pull your masks out,’’ he wrote in a letter to parents on July 29.
tudents with an appropriately documented medical reason, are exempt from the mandatory requirement but are encouraged to wear masks or other suitable face coverings.
Tyler said the BCSD will re-evaluate its policies on Sept. 10. “It is my hope with the supportive efforts of you and your children, we will end this policy, as expected,’’ Tyler said.
“We will continue our sanitization protocols in our buildings and our buses as we have done before. This is our new standard. We will encourage social distancing where possible and we will monitor everyone for leading COVID symptoms like loss of taste and smell.’’
Dr. Michael Chang, lead medical officer at Children’s and Women’s Hospital and USA Health, has stated that the ICU at Children’s and Women’s Hospital has been at or near capacity.
“While the death rate is low, it seems ridiculous to me we would make our decisions simply based on whether or not people are dying. I am very grateful we have a low death rate, but I don’t want our actions, or lack of actions, to impact that,’’ Superintendent Tyler added.