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FROM STAFF REPORTS

ALABASTER – With the recent return to five-day, on-campus instruction, the Alabaster City School System continues to analyze COVID-19 data pertaining to the safety and well-being of its students and employees.

The school system has been sending out weekly updates on the virus with the number of positive cases and quarantines each week of the school year.

“The Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama State Department of Education will soon begin to release specific figures by school system,” read a letter from ACS Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers. “Until this dashboard is available, Alabaster City Schools will provide weekly summary data pertaining to positive cases and close-contact exposure among our students and employees.”

The statistics for the week of Oct. 5-9 are as follows. This information stated below was self-reported to the school system by the individual or the parent/guardian of the individual positive for COVID-19.

• Twelve students tested positive for COVID-19, or 0.19 percent of the ACS on-campus student population.
• Due to the potential of close-contact exposure, 186 students were asked to quarantine, or 3 percent of the ACS on-campus student population.
• One employee tested positive for COVID-19, or 0.13 percent of the ACS employee population.
• Due to the potential of close-contact exposure, seven employees were asked to quarantine, or 0.9% of the ACS employee population.

Close contact exposure is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as being within six feet of distance for more than fifteen minutes of a person testing positive for COVID-19.

“We will continue to follow our Roadmap to Reopening plan to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. As such, we ask parents/guardians and employees to be the first line of defense with daily screenings for symptoms,” Vickers said. “If your student has symptoms of illness or if your student is awaiting COVID-19 test results or has tested positive for COVID-19, he or she should not attend school until cleared by a medical professional.”

You are asked to contact your school nurse if you have any questions.

Students who are asked to quarantine due to close-contact exposure should not attend school or on-campus activities. Also, please remind students to practice preventative measures through the use of facial coverings, social distancing, and proper hand hygiene in school and throughout the community.