Parents Urge Vestavia Hills School District To Require Masks

 ========= Old Image Removed =========1Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2021/08/from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174.jpeg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1818;s:6:"height";i:1022;s:4:"file";s:69:"2021/08/from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174.jpeg";s:5:"sizes";a:11:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:69:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-336x189.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:69:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-771x433.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:433;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:69:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-140x140.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:69:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-768x432.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:70:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-1536x863.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:863;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:67:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-80x80.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:69:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-800x450.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:800;s:6:"height";i:450;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:69:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-600x600.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:69:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-553x311.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:69:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-470x265.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:69:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-e1628622212174-125x125.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Vestavia Hills City Schools Facebook Page
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_wp_attachment_image_alt] => Array
        (
            [0] => Students learn in Vestavia Hills City Schools
        )

    [_wp_attachment_backup_sizes] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:12:{s:9:"full-orig";a:3:{s:5:"width";i:1818;s:6:"height";i:1363;s:4:"file";s:46:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook.jpeg";}s:14:"thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:54:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-140x140.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:11:"medium-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:54:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-336x252.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:252;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:17:"medium_large-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:54:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-768x576.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:576;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:10:"large-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:54:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-771x578.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:578;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"1536x1536-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:56:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-1536x1152.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:1152;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"wbhm-icon-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:52:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-80x80.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:54:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-800x450.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:800;s:6:"height";i:450;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"wbhm-featured-square-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:54:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-600x600.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:23:"wbhm-featured-home-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:54:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-415x311.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:415;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:27:"wbhm-featured-carousel-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:54:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-353x265.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:353;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:19:"post-thumbnail-orig";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:54:"from_Vestavia_Hills_City_Schools_facebook-125x125.jpeg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}
        )

)
1657922629 
1628606343
Students learn in Vestavia Hills City Schools

Students learn in Vestavia Hills City Schools

Vestavia Hills City Schools Facebook Page

With the current surge in COVID-19 cases in Alabama, many school districts in Jefferson County have updated their health and safety policies and now require masks for students and faculty.

But in Vestavia Hills, the school board decided to only recommend masks for students, not require them — a decision that has become a real flashpoint for parents.

Over 1,900 parents have signed a petition, demanding the school district to require masks for its 7,000 students and 870 staff members. Katie Dudley, who has two children in a Vestavia Hills elementary school, started the petition.

“If you’re making a decision based on possible harm, the easiest decision to make would be to wear a mask,” Dudley said.

In addition to the mask recommendation, Vestavia Hills board members said that elementary school students could have the option to learn remotely, but parents only had 48 hours to decide. It was too little too late for Karl Julian. He has three children in the district and said he felt manipulated.

“It’s just politics, and it’s at the expense of public health and my kids’ health,” Julian said. “So it’s really disappointing and frustrating.”

The Vestavia Hills school board’s decision to not require masks goes against guidance from public health agencies. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Alabama Department of Public Health have recently recommended universal masking in classrooms.

No Public Comment Allowed

In a Facebook group advocating for “safe schools,” other parents in the Birmingham region have shared their concerns about a lack of transparency from the school board in their decision-making.

The board announced the masking policy to parents in an email last week. But at a meeting this week, parents and community members were not allowed to give public comment regarding the decision.

“I’m seriously considering that if universal masking for elementary is not required until they at least have the ability to be vaccinated, then we’ll find an alternative arrangement,” Julian said. ”Which is really gut wrenching because the whole reason we’re here is the school system.”

But parents like Kiera McNichols don’t have many other options. She’s a registered nurse, and her children are not able to learn remotely this year.

“We know that there is a pandemic, and we know that we are currently in an outbreak,” McNichols said. “And we know that face masks are the number one thing that can save children from getting not just COVID, but other respiratory illnesses.”

McNichols said she knows first-hand the severity of COVID-19. She said she doesn’t understand why the school board doesn’t seem to take that into account.

In an email to parents, Vestavia Hills City Schools Superintendent Todd Freeman said that he acknowledges families’ “perspectives, concerns and suggestions for this school year.” But Freeman said that he wanted to emphasize the responsibility of parents to check their children for symptoms of COVID-19 and to make their own health decisions.

The Vestavia Hills district has adopted a safety model centered around four habits to promote health. They include parents checking their children for symptoms at home; recommended face masks; washing hands; and practicing good respiratory hygiene.

The district also recommends COVID-19 vaccination for all students who are eligible.

Kyra Miles is a Report for America Corps Member reporting on education for WBHM.

 

Lawyer says an Alabama teen who was killed by police was shot in the back

Authorities have not released police body camera video of the June 23 encounter or disclosed the name of the officer who shot 18-year-old Jabari Peoples in the parking lot of a soccer field in the affluent Birmingham suburb of Homewood. They also haven't released the findings of the county's official autopsy.

An Israeli restaurant owner quits a controversial Gaza food program after criticism

Shahar Segal, who runs popular restaurants around the world, has left his role as a spokesman for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation amid calls to boycott his businesses.

Trump’s pick for U.N. Ambassador grilled over Signal chat scandal

Former national security adviser Mike Waltz, who was removed from office amid the Signal chat controversy, spent Tuesday in the Senate confirmation hearing for his nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

5 takeaways from the 2025 Emmy nominations

Apple TV+ must be happy about how many nominations they've raked in this year for hit shows including Severance and The Studio, NPR critic Linda Holmes says.

The White House took down the nation’s top climate report. You can still find it here

The National Climate Assessment is the most influential source of information about climate change in the United States.

The Trump administration reverses its promise to publish key climate reports online

Earlier this month, the government websites that hosted the authoritative, peer-reviewed national climate assessments went dark. Officials say they're only obligated to give the reports to Congress.

More Coronavirus Coverage