By: WKRG Staff

Posted: Nov 30, 2020 / 08:54 PM CST / Updated: Nov 30, 2020 / 10:11 PM CST

BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) — Baldwin County Public Schools reported 248 COVID-19 related absences over the Thanksgiving break.

Out of those, 88 were students in Fairhope. We asked Mayor Sherry Sullivan for comment – given crowd at The Lighting of the Trees a week-and-a-half ago, who told us “I don’t think you can trace that to the Tree Lighting.” She added that it appeared the crowd was more full of families with young children than high school students.

The transparency report for the holiday notes that no one was in the schools Monday or the preceding 10 days. The list is a result of people who notified the school system that they or their child was out with COVID-19 symptoms, contact traced or COVID-19 positiive.

Below is the transparency report on COVID absences in Baldwin County Public Schools. These are NOT people who have COVID, but rather people who were absent or sent home for a countless number of reasons related to COVID, as noted below.

A few important notes:

1. We will only report new instances per day, not cumulative. 
2. Those in this count may not be on our campuses, some may have never entered our schools. Parents have been calling to let us know their child is out and why their child is out. Some may be quarantined at home with parents. 
3. These numbers include students and employees.
4. Not all of these are people who have tested positive for COVID. These numbers do include people who are confirmed positive for COVID, but most will be those who might have been exposed and are choosing to stay home or who might only have symptoms.
5. Parents will be notified at the school level in the evenings. For secondary, only by the principal. For elementary, by both the principal school-wide, and the teacher for that classroom.
6. The information here will not be broken down further because of privacy issues. We will do our best to keep the media up to date on this data as we have it to release but we may look for an automated way to process this going forward.

Baldwin County High School	17
Bay Minette Elementary School	5
Belforest Elementary School	1
Central Baldwin Middle School	1
Daphne High School	9
Daphne Middle School	11
Elberta Elementary School	8
Elberta High School	4
Elberta Middle School	1
Elsanor Elementary School	2
Fairhope East Elementary School	21
Fairhope High School	40
Fairhope Middle School	14
Fairhope West Elementary School	13
Foley High School	11
Foley Middle School	2
J. Larry Newton School	11
Loxley Elementary School	3
Magnolia School	7
Orange Beach Elementary School	8
Orange Beach Middle/High School	6
Robertsdale Elementary School	2
Robertsdale High School	2
Rockwell Elementary School	6
Rosinton Elementary School	3
Spanish Fort Elementary School	7
Spanish Fort High School	7
Spanish Fort Middle School	3
Stapleton School	2
Summerdale School	2
W.J. Carroll Intermediate School	1
Bay Minette Middle School	7
Florence B. Mathis Elementary School	5
Foley Elementary School	3
Daphne East Elementary School	2
Belforest Elementary School	1

The Baldwin County School System is treating schools as though they have COVID-19 students in the building every day because the vast majority of children under 18 are asymptomatic. Classrooms and facilities are cleaned multiple times a day with hospital-grade cleaners, as well as buses and equipment. Students are wearing masks or face shields at all times while on campus unless they are performing a specific task. Schools check temperatures and monitor for symptoms of all employees and students throughout the day. Students and employees are social distancing where appropriate, washing their hands and sanitizing throughout the day as well. All of this is being done every day, regardless of whether the school has had any reported absences related to COVID-19.

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