by Kirsten J. Barnes, Communications Director Office of Senate Minority Leader
On Tuesday, July 14, 2020, three Alabama Senators made a presentation to the Alabama State Board of Education, during their work session.
Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro), along with Sen. John McClendon (R-Springville) and Sen. Jabo Waggoner (R- Vestavia Hills), addressed the State Board of Education regarding their reservations about reopening schools.
“As a bipartisan group of senators, we appreciate the governor allowing us to come before the board to present our plan. We came here today because we want to see a plan that shows equity throughout the state and ensures every child, parent and administrator can feel safe when walking back into their public school system,” Singleton told the group, during the meeting which was live streamed and recorded.
The archived video is available at http://www. alsde.edu/sites/boe/Pages/PreviousMeetings. aspx.
“At this point, unfortunately, it seems the State Board of Education does not want the responsibility of presenting a plan that shows leadership at the state level by continuing to push its “Roadmap to Reopening Schools,” which does not mandate screening, testing, or isolation rooms for children.”
The senators worked on their plan with input from the Alabama Nurses Association, teachers, superintendents and parents.
“We can no longer act as if we are operating under normal conditions. We are faced with an abnormal situation that none of us has seen before. We cannot minimize the risk, at the expense of our children, employees, and their families. For many of our communities, this will be the first time that we will be allowing a crowd of more than 20 people to gather in one location. We have to take more precautions than the current “Roadmap” suggests,” said Singleton.
The three senators are advocating for a statewide plan that includes mandates for every school system.
“It is time for those of us who were elected by the voters of this great state to show the fortitude of leadership, and do what we can to make sure our children are safe during this worldwide pandemic,” Singleton said. “If the Alabama State Board of Education leaves it up to each system, we will have 138 different plans and that does not solve our problem. What we need is a cohesive, uniform, statewide plan.
We need to create a plan that will be inclusive of all 138 systems, so that we can be sure that every child, every staff member, and every faculty member are following the same guidelines when it comes to the safety of our schoolchildren.”
Although some systems are larger than others, and some will operate within COVID-19 hotshots, while others will operate in areas where the numbers of infected are lower; every school has the potential of becoming a hotspot if schools do not take the precautions necessary to limit the spread of this deadly infection.
“I’m concerned about all of our children, not just the children in my district. All of our children must be our priority” said Singleton. “While we have $1.8 billion in federal funds, we have an once-in-alifetime opportunity to make sure that we create and implement an equitable plan for the entire state. Therefore, there is no need to waste time worrying about funding; the funding is there.”
During the work session Gov. Ivey asked State School Superintendent Eric Mackey to finalize a plan by Friday, July 17, 2020, that incorporates more standards.
“The school board doesn’t have to adopt the plan we presented today, but they do need to adopt a plan that incorporates screening, testing, and isolation” said Singleton. “We need to do all we can to guarantee to the best of our knowledge and ability, to provide a safe environment so that all of our students can thrive academically.”