Q: Can you please tell me how many students are enrolled in the Lauderdale County School system?

A: As of right now, the Lauderdale County School System has approximately 8,000 students. This is not an official count as we are not yet finished with the first full week of school with all students attending 5 days a week.

Board Policy Manual

What determines the time and place of LC Board Meetings?

2.5.2 Time and Place – The times and places for regularly scheduled meetings will be established by the Board at the annual meeting held in November of each year, provided that the Board may modify its meeting schedule in the exercise of its sound discretion. Public notice of the dates, times and places of meetings of the Board will be given in the manner prescribed by law. Board members will be given such advance notice of specially called meetings as is practicable under the circumstances.

2.5.3 Special (Called) Meetings – Special meetings shall be called by the President of the Board, upon the written request (which may be conveyed by electronic mail) of a majority of the members of the Board to the President or by the Superintendent. Notice of the call or request shall be simultaneously conveyed to all Board members and to the Superintendent, together with a statement of the reason for the call or request and the matters to be addressed at the meeting. The meeting shall be set as soon as is practicable, taking into account the reasonable availability of Board members and the Superintendent, the urgency of the matters to be addressed, and the necessity to provide public notice of the meeting as provided by law.

What are the regulations regarding speaking at an LC Board Meeting?

2.5.4 Rules of Order – Board meetings will be conducted in accordance with the most recently revised edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, provided that strict adherence to the formalities of the Rules of Order may be reasonably relaxed in order to facilitate conduct of Board business. A majority of the whole Board will constitute a quorum for purposes of transacting Board business except as may otherwise be provided by law. Deviations from, or errors in, executing parliamentary procedure do not invalidate Board actions or decisions that are otherwise consistent with the intent of the Board.

2.5.5 Public Participation – In order to permit orderly scheduling of public remarks and the inclusion of such in the agenda, anyone wishing to speak before the Board, either as an individual, or as a member of a group, should inform the Superintendent in writing of the desire to do so and of the topic to be discussed as early as possible, but in no event less than five days prior to the meeting.

Any individual desiring to speak shall stand and give his or her name and the group name, if any, that he or she represents. The presentation should be as brief as possible, and in no event shall such address exceed three (3) minutes. Speakers may make statements about their particular concern with school operations and programs and shall observe appropriate decorum in doing so. The Board will not hear comments regarding individual students, personal complaints against particular school personnel, or any person connected with the school system in public session.

At his or her discretion, the Board President may allow public comments from the floor concerning any agenda item at the end of the regular meeting agenda. The Board President may terminate any comments that do not conform to the criteria specified, or for other good cause

General Information:

Mask Policy as of 8/9/21

Alabama Department of Public Health Back to School Guidelines

Submitted Questions

Q: With the rising cases in our area as well as the increasing amount of cases in children, will there be a reconsideration of the criteria of a mask mandate?

A: The mask policy for Lauderdale County School stands as of 8/16/21 and can be viewed from the link above. Using the CDC and Alabama Department of Public Health guidelines, data is collected and examined daily from the LC School System to help determine current policies regarding our students' and employees' health and safety.  

Q: How many kids were quarantined last school year county-wide? Of those, how many positive cases were there?

A: The LC Dashboard is available on our county website as of 8/16/21. This data is only from our school system. (Please keep in mind the data posted on the dashboard is from the previous week’s reports.)

Last school year the countywide number of quarantine instances was 4932. There were 748 positive cases for the 2020-2021 school year.

Q: If you are not going to mandate mask, what are you going to do to keep these healthy kids out of quarantine? 

A:  The Lauderdale County Board of Education is reviewing policies and procedures related to COVID data each day. This is an ongoing process. Cleaning and sanitizing our campuses daily is a top priority.

Q: My question is why do we have to be held to a mask mandate until the State of Alabama changes it. Our kids are our lifeline. Covid is rapidly expanding in our areas. I respectfully ask you to reconsider a mandatory mask mandate and please expedite upgrades to HVAC systems to filter the air our staff and family are breathing.

A: The Lauderdale County School system is monitoring COVID data each HOUR in OUR school system. As of right masks remain a recommendation and personal choice. HVAC systems are being worked on throughout the county at this time.

Q: Will hybrid be considered? 

A: The Lauderdale County School system will make any decisions regarding hybrid or virtual in relation to changes in the COVID data for our system. At this time all LC schools remain on an in-person, 5 days a week schedule.

Q: Who made the decision on quarantine requirements and what information were those decisions based on?

Q: Do you plan to change the way kids are being questioned because of close contact with a covid positive student? Missing 1-2 weeks of school is too much for an a-symptomatic student

A: Alabama Department of Public Health and CDD guideline recommendations. The Lauderdale County Board of Education is reviewing policies and procedures related to COVID data each day. This is an ongoing process.

Q: On July 26, 2021, AL Attorney General Steve Marshall released public guidance addressing legal questions surrounding Covid 19 vaccinations. It stated, "Institutions of education, both public and private, are prohibited from requiring students to prove any new immunization status as a condition of attendance. Based on this statement, how is the LCSS going to identify who is a vaccinated or unvaccinated student? What information will be used in determining who is quarantined if vaccination status cannot be required or proven?

A: Isolation due to exposure will be determined by each local school nurse who will follow the ADPH’s guidelines. Individuals may voluntarily reveal their vaccination status to a school nurse. If vaccination status is not revealed any exposed individual will fall under isolation protocols. Anyone vaccinated or unvaccinated who becomes symptomatic will be required to isolate under the ADPH timelines. 

Q: Is it permitted for any entity within the LCSS or those operating on LCSS property to test for covid 19 or administer any vaccinations to students of any age without first getting parental consent?

Q: Are any vaccination clinics being set up at any of the Lauderdale County Schools? Are there any plans for them? Is there any Rapid testing being done in any of the schools? With or without parents' permission for either.

A: All health screenings or vaccination clinics on our campuses require prior approval and signed consent from parents for any child in our school system. As of right now, there will not be COVID vaccination clinics on our school campuses. 

Q: With the rising cases in our area as well as the increasing amount of cases in children will there be a reconsideration of the criteria of a mask mandate?

A: As of 8/19/21 the LCSS mask policy remains as is. 

Q: Since there is no policy in place. What is being done to Principals, teachers, support staff that are harassing or belittling students for not being vaccinated or not wearing masks?

A: The Lauderdale County Superintendent, Jerry Hill, was just made aware of any instances of employees discussing vaccinations or masks with students. He is addressing this with each school administrator. 

Q:  How much funding does the LCSS lose for every child withdrawn?

A: Information regarding per-pupil spending can be found here. LCSS Snapshot

Q: Just curious on the statistics for last week covid per school.

A: Each week on Monday before 12:00 noon the Covid numbers for LCSS are posted under our dashboard page. You can find the LCSS dashboard here. 

Q: Is Lauderdale County Schools utilizing the Back to School Guidance offered by the Alabama Department of Public Health (https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/covid19/assets/cov-school-guidance-073021.pdf) to determine the policy and guidelines to operate Lauderdale County Schools during the COVID-19 pandemic?

A: Yes, the current ADPH return to school guide is being used daily in our school system. Our lead nurses, school nurses, and administrator are in constant contact with the ADPH. Data is monitored each day for individual schools and the system as a whole. 

Q: I would like to know if the ADPH has said that schools do not have the authority to quarantine asymptomatic students from school then why are we quarantining asymptomatic students from school? Also, along this same line, the ADPH has also said that schools are not required to contact trace for COVID-19, yet we are still contact tracing only now instead of just contact tracing CLOSE contacts we are eliminating entire classrooms. How will this be remedied?

A: The Lauderdale County School System is working in close contact with the Alabama Department of Public Health daily. We are no longer close contact tracing from an individual positive test result. We are reporting to the ADPH each day. Our nurses and administrators are mandatory reports per the State of Alabama.

https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/infectiousdiseases/report.html

When positive cases reach 3 or more in a classroom or a 15% threshold within a group or whole school setting the situation becomes an outbreak. The lead nurse, school nurse, ADPH local officials, and LCSS administrators form a plan to place students on remote or hybrid learning. We are not placing entire classrooms on quarantine or isolation due to one student being positive in the classroom. Individual situations or questions regarding isolation or quarantine status can be discussed with our LCSS lead nurses.