No State Guidlines For Outbreaks At School

Sydney Martin was in Huntsville working to learn the school districts plan if an outbreak happens.

Doing once students return.

The state department of education and public health both issued guidance saying the decision of if and when to close due to coronavirus cases is up to each local school district in the state... local leaders told me it's a decision they believe only the school districts will know how to make..take a listen.

David spillers, huntsville hospital ceo "i don't know how many people they have per classroom.

I don't know how much distancing they have, so it's not my place to tell them when it gets to a percentage they need to shut down.

I think they got some really bright people running the school systems. i think they're asking people who understand this disease really well what they should and shouldn't do.

I think in the end they'll make the right decision."

Paul finley, mayor of madison "it's one of the things that have recently come out from the state that i think gives the school districts a little bit more flexibility based on the decisions they need to make based on what david was just saying.

Before it was just kind of a one size fits all for the schools and now that they've handed some of that resposnbility back to the schools, i think they now can make better decisions based on the amount of space they have, the amount of things that they can do.

That's a very positive thing that each school district can use to help to get kids into those classrooms as quickly as possible.

I reached out to all three school districts in madison county today asking how they'll handle keeping a school open or closed with positive cases-- madison county schools plans to evaluate the staff and students impacted by the cases and how many are in quarantine or positive- but said the decision will be made on a case by case basis.

Madison city schools told me they'll look at c-d-c and alabama department of public health guidelines- along with a variety of factors including number of cases in a classroom, community spread and social distancing practices i'm still waiting to hear back from madison and huntsville city schools tonight.

Live in huntsville sm waay 31 news.