The number of reported cases of COVID among staff and students in Alabama’s public schools jumped to 2,940 this week, up from 750 reported the week of Dec. 16. That’s the highest total number of cases reported since Sept. 23, when the case count was 3,802.
Of the 131 school districts and three public charter schools that reported cases this week, about half reported their highest numbers since September, when the delta variant was rampant. The highest statewide weekly total this school year was 9,195 cases, reported the week of Sept. 3.
This week’s report technically covers the time period from Dec. 29 through Jan. 4, but with most students not returning to school until Tuesday of this week, it is unclear whether school officials in all districts were tracking cases before students came back to school. The state asks schools to report COVID cases on Tuesdays.
Hoover City Schools topped the list statewide, reporting 218 cases, exceeding the district’s previous total of 200 cases reported Sept. 3. Those cases include the full week of Dec. 29 to Jan. 4, Superintendent Dee Fowler told AL.com.
The district encouraged continued reporting over the break, he said, so officials can quickly identify students who have completed a quarantine period and get them back in classrooms.
“People might say, ‘Well, why would they report the whole week?’,” Fowler said. “It goes back to our students wanting to put a line in the sand so that they get back into school as quickly as they can.”
The CDC changed its guidance to schools earlier this week, shortening the isolation and quarantine periods to match those enacted last week for everyone else.https://018ab0dda4cdce44fde021b22294cc63.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Hoover has been reporting cases weekly on its website, broken down by students and staff, since the school year began.
The district has a formula that determines if masks are required to be worn. When the percentage of students testing positive for COVID exceeds 1% for two weeks in a row, masks become mandatory. According to Hoover’s reporting, 1.12% of students tested positive for COVID.
In addition to Hoover, 17 school districts and three public charter schools reported their highest case numbers of the school year.
Madison City reported 121 cases, exceeding the 105 cases reported Sept. 10, and Homewood City Schools reported 115 cases, more than five times the previous high of 20 cases reported Sept. 10.
The only other triple-digit case numbers reported were in Baldwin County Schools with 179 cases, far from their high of 640 cases reported Aug. 27.
Seven school districts and two charter schools made no report this week.
State Superintendent Eric Mackey told AL.com earlier this week he is concerned about the recent surge.
“I’m obviously very concerned,” Mackey said, “that we’re going to be in a situation in the next two to three weeks, by the end of January, that we have to close schools sporadically, not statewide, because they’re just not enough adults to keep the school working. That’s my biggest concern.”
Some school districts have already decided to switch to remote learning until next week, and others have decided to require masks for students and staff.
Every county in the state is currently listed as having high transmission, according to ADPH, with an overall positivity rate of 42.3% statewide, the highest of the pandemic so far.
The table below shows all school districts and weekly reports for this week and the previous four weeks.