Alabama schools could resume in June in phased reopening
As President Donald Trump continues urging the nation’s governors to consider reopening schools before the end of the academic year, Alabama’s school superintendent is considering bringing some students back to school next month.
Eric Mackey told AL.com children 13 and older could return to campus in groups of 10 or less for athletic practice and possibly summer school starting June 8. Younger students could get the go-ahead to return for summer literacy camps as early as July 6.
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But Mackey added those dates are tentative. “We may move forward, and then we may have to retract,” he said.
As of Sunday, more than 7,600 coronavirus cases had been reported in Alabama, with a death toll of 289, according to WRBL.
Last week, Trump said states should “seriously consider” reopening their public schools before the end of the academic year, even though dozens already have said it would be unsafe for students to return until the summer or fall.
Trump made the comments in a call with governors discussing how to reopen their economies, among other topics.
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“Some of you might start thinking about school openings, because a lot of people are wanting to have the school openings. It’s not a big subject, young children have done very well in this disaster that we’ve all gone through,” he said. While addressing Vice President Mike Pence, Trump added that it’s something “they can seriously consider and maybe get going on.”
Later in the call, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said his state’s schools are not reopening fully before summer but hope to open some buildings for meetings about special education and for small groups of students in vocational programs.
“We’re hoping at least for those last few weeks that kids who are taking classes that need the physical equipment, they can come in in smaller groups,” Polis said. “But we want to reconfigure it with better social distancing for next school year.”
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Trump made the comments as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worked to finalize guidelines for reopening the economy. For schools, that included putting students’ desks 6 feet apart, serving meals in the classroom instead of the cafeteria and closing playgrounds.
