St. Clair County Schools announced their plans for the 2020-21 academic year. Teachers will return Aug. 15 while students with last names A-K will return Aug. 20, students last name L-Z will return Aug. 21. All students will return together on Aug. 24. Due to the pandemic, the school year will look vastly different from the normal school years of the past.

Students and parents have three options going into the school year; traditional, virtual and hybrid.

The traditional option will be in person classes that operate as normal while taking extra precautions to maintain safety for staff and students. The virtual alternative is fully online through our Virtual Preparatory Academy (VPA). VPA is an accredited St. Clair County School that offers a State approved curriculum for grades K – 12. This option is a full year online commitment, while allowing opportunities for face-to-face interactions. The hybrid option allows students to have a combination of both traditional and online learning. This option will be facilitated by the local school using an online State approved educational platform. The commitment is for an entire grading period.

While students are not required to wear masks, the Board of Education strongly encourages them to do so. Every employee is required to wear a mask any time six feet distance can not be maintained. Every visitor to a campus, regardless of age, will be required to wear a mask. For students wearing masks, they must be appropriate and not distracting.

Parents are expected to monitor students for symptoms. Parents are asked to notify the school if a positive COVID-19 test but assure the information will be kept confidential.

St. Clair county will continue to prepare for fall sports. Following the guidance of the Alabama High School Athletics Association, players and coaches will have specific guidelines to follow.

In March, schools closed temporarily due to COVID-19, students did not return beck to campus for the remainder of the year, instead they finished through virtual learning.

“Thank you for being patient as we develop this plan, and please understand the plan is subject to change based on the Governor’s recommendation, the ADPH, the ALSDE, and our local municipalities” said Superintendent Mike Howard.

For more information on the school systems plan visit SCCBOE.org.