News & Announcements
- "TCSS News & Notes" - Community Newsletter
- Report Safety Concerns Confidentially Through SpeakUp for Safety Tip Line
- TCSS Appreciates Our Assistant Principals
- Alabama's Safer Apart Order & Masks in Our Schools
- Brookwood Elementary Student & Teachers Complete Half Marathon with Ainsley's Angels
- Davis-Emerson Middle Teacher Selected as Alabama Middle School Science Teacher of the Year
- April 5, 2021: Latest Data Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- Board Votes to Move Forward with CSFO Contract Negotiations
- Final Design Approved for Road at Northport Elementary & Northport Intermediate
- Myrtlewood Elementary Selected for Alabama's P-3 Program
- Thursday, March 25, 2021: TCSS Remote Learning Day
- TCSS Child Nutrition Team Serves More Than 2.8 Million Meals Throughout Pandemic
- WOW 2.0 Provides Job Interview Opportunities for High School Seniors
- March 12, 2021: Data Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- TCSS Named 2021 Innovative District by International Center for Leadership in Education
- TCSS Celebrates Our National Board Certified Teachers
- Meet Our TCSS Social Work Team
- 2021-2022 Kindergarten Registration
- Meet the Principal - Mr. Michael Tilford
- Hillcrest High Named 2020 CLAS School of Distinction
- Read Across America 2021
- TCHS Seniors Recognized Through National Merit Scholarship Program
- February 26, 2021: Data Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- Board Approves Temporary Pay Increase for Substitute Teachers & LPNs
- Architects & Construction Managers Approved for Construction Projects
- Planning for the Opening of Northport Intermediate & Reconfiguration of TCHS Feeder Pattern Schools
- 2021 TCSS Educator Recognition Awards
- TCHS Celebrates Mars Rover Landing & Classmate's Role in Historic Event
- Regular Operations to Resume Wednesday, February 17
- Schools & Central Office Closed Tuesday, February 16
- Schools & Central Office Closed Monday, February 15
- Monitoring the Weather for Monday, February 15
- February 12, 2021: Data Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- Neighborhood Bridges Tuscaloosa County Launches Friday, February 12
- Mr. Bill Squires Takes Oath of Office as District 7 Board of Education Member
- February 1-5 Is National School Counseling Week
- Tuesday, March 9: ACT for 11th Graders, E-Learning Day for 9th, 10th, & 12th Graders
- TCSS High Schools to Move to Block Schedule for 2021-2022 School Year
- TCSS Adds Mental Health Services Coordinator
- TCSS Adds New Digital Library Resource, SORA
- Thank You, Board Members!
- January 30, 2021: Data Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- Brookwood Middle Named 2021 State School of Character
- Commission Recognizes TCSS Career Technical Education Programs
- Celebrating 50 Years of Service to TCSS & Our Students
- Board to Hold Interviews January 21 for District 7 Board of Education Seat
- January 15, 2021: Data Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- TCSS Seeks Candidates for Position of Chief School Financial Officer
- TCSS to Implement Two-Hour Delay Tuesday, January 12, 2021
- Pre-Kindergarten Pre-Registration Deadline Is Monday, March 8
- TCSS to Implement Three-Hour Delay Monday, January 11, 2021
- TCSS to Return to Five-Day On-Campus Schedule Monday, January 11
- December 19, 2020: Data Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- TCSS to Implement A/B Schedule for On-Campus Students January 5 - 8, 2021
- Application Period Open Until January 7 for District 7 Board of Education Seat
- Photo Gallery - Celebrating the Holiday Season
- TCSS Educators Receive Tuscaloosa Education Foundation Grants
- Statement on the Passing of Board of Education Member Mr. Bill Copeland
- Board of Education Approves Extraordinary Compensation for Employees
- TCSS CSFO Announces Upcoming Retirement
- ADPH Updates Guidelines for Schools, Regarding Quarantine Period
- TCSS Teachers Receive Nick's Kids Teacher Excellence Awards
- Sipsey Valley Celebrates Addition of Athletics Facilities
- 2021-2022 TCSS Academic Calendar Approved
- TCSS to Shift to A/B Schedule Beginning Monday, December 14
- December 4, 2020: Latest Data Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- Board Members Begin New Terms in Office
- December 3: Update from the Office of the Superintendent
- Choose Your Learning Option for Third Nine Weeks
- Provide Feedback on Proposed 2021-2022 TCSS Academic Calendar
- November 20: Data Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- Meet Our Education Heroes
- November 17: Update from the Office of the Superintendent
- TEF, Jalapeno's, & TCSS Celebrate Our Education Heroes
- November 12: Information Regarding COVID-19 & Our Schools
- November 10: Data Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- Photo Gallery: Vocabulary Parade
- TCSS Celebrates Red Ribbon Week
- Celebrating Decades of Service to Our Schools
- TCSS Receives $389,000 Grant for Career Technical Education
- October 26: An Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- Unity Day 2020 - Photo Gallery
- Alabama College Application Week 2020
- October 15: An Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- CRMS Tigers Celebrate Championship Win & Undefeated Season
- Second Nine Weeks: Important Upcoming Dates
- TCSS Goes Blue for World Day of Bullying Prevention
- Celebrating Homecoming Traditions
- TCSS Promotes BRAVE Bullying Prevention Initiative
- October 1: An Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- TCSS E-Learning Day Set for Friday, October 16
- Schools Receive Tuscaloosa Education Foundation Grants for Character Education
- Big Sandy Receives Visit from National Organization to Mark Achievement
- TCHS Wind Ensemble Receives National Recognition
- Join Our Team as a Substitute
- September 17: An Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- TCSS to Implement Edgenuity Online Learning Solution for Remote Learners
- TCHS Student Named National Merit Semifinalist
- An Update on COVID-19 & Our Schools
- Breakfast and Lunch Available to All TCSS Students, at No Cost to Families
- Continuous Improvement Planning
- Photo Gallery: Welcome Back to School!
- Welcome Dr. Johnson!
- Leaders Are Readers
- Celebrating Service to Our Students - Photo Gallery
- Congratulations to the Class of 2020!
- Thank You, Dr. Davie! - Photo Gallery
- Preparing for Our Return to School
- Holt Elementary Selected as 2020 Promising Practice School
- A Message to Our TCSS Community & Resources for Families
- Big Sandy Named First "Model PLC at Work" School in Alabama
- 2020 - 2021 Transportation Information
- Board Selects Candidates to Fill Superintendent and CSFO Positions
- Class of 2020 Graduation Celebrations on WVUA 23
- Two TCSS Schools Chosen as 2020 National Schools of Character
- Board Approves Revised 2020-2021 Academic Calendar
- 2020-2021 Kindergarten Registration
- New Principal Named for Lake View Elementary
- TCHS Junior Names NASA's Mars Helicopter
- Storm Shelter Information
- Superintendent & CSFO Update
- TCSS Reads Across America!
- Information on Search for TCSS Superintendent and Chief School Financial Officer
- Waiver Requested for February 11 Weather Day
- TCSS Students Spread Kindness
- National School Counseling Week 2020
- February Is Career Technical Education Month
- TCSS Schools Chosen as 2020 State Schools of Character
- School Board Member Recognition Month
- Fighting the Flu
- TCSS 2020 Educator Recognition Award Recipients
- TCSS Student Chosen as Finalist in NASA Contest
- Honors for TCHS Wind Ensemble
- Pre-K Registration Information for 2020-2021 School Year
- TCSS Superintendent and CSFO Announce Retirements
- Honors for Holt High Carpentry
- Nick's Kids Teacher Excellence Awards
- TCSS Celebrates Alabama's Bicentennial
- TCSS Teachers Achieve National Board Certification
- Holiday Book Drive
- 2020-2021 TCSS Academic Calendar Approved
- TCSS Students Honor Veterans
- Commission Provides Funding for Projects at Schools
- TCSS High School Students Participate in Reality Check
- Pumpkins Become Book Characters
- May 2020 Graduation Ceremonies Announced
- Alabama Education Report Card
- TCSS Teams Up Against Bullying on Friday, October 18
- TCSS Launches BRAVE Bullying Prevention Program
- TCSS Launching New Community Engagement Program
- TCSS Schools Selected as Bicentennial Schools of Excellence
- TEF Celebrates Superintendents & Supporters of Education
- Ribbon Cutting & Open House for Sipsey Valley Middle School
- TCSS Teacher on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"
- 2019 TCSS Summer Meals Program
- TCSS Names New Administrators
- TCSS Celebrates Alabama Bicentennial
- Tuscaloosa County School System
- November 12: Information Regarding COVID-19 & Our Schools
November 12: Information for Our TCSS Community on COVID-19 & Our Schools
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November 12, 2020
From the Office of the Superintendent
To Our TCSS Community,
We want share several important items with you regarding our schools and COVID-19.
---TCSS continues to compile and share data regarding COVID-19 and its impact on our schools. As we have been doing since September 3, a new update is posted to our TCSS web site every two weeks. The latest update is available from the home page of our site. The latest update also includes links to all previous COVID-19 updates.
---If there is a need to share a COVID-19 update with an individual school or school community, outside of the regular biweekly system update, TCSS will provide an additional update. For instance, the Hillcrest High and Tuscaloosa County High School communities have recently received additional updates, due to rises in the numbers of confirmed positive cases and students determined to be close contacts of positive cases at those schools.
---The Alabama State Department of Education is now publishing COVID-19 data from school systems across Alabama. While this online dashboard provides an additional source for COVID-19 data, we encourage our TCSS community also to continue referring to the COVID-19 updates we share every two weeks. Our updates provide a much greater level of detail, with respect to what is happening in our school system. It is also important to remember that the state dashboard provides a raw number of total cases. TCSS is the ninth-largest school system in our state, with nearly 19,000 students, and approximately 84 percent of those students attending school on campus. Some school systems in our state have less than a thousand students in an entire system. There also may be differences in how individual school systems collect and report their COVID-19 case data. For many reasons, it is difficult to compare one system against another, when looking at this data. You may have seen news headlines this week stating that TCSS has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the state. One raw number simply does not provide the full context, in a very complex situation. That being said, the rise in COVID-19 cases in our community does have us on alert, and as we published in our November 10 COVID-19 update, your help in reducing the spread is of critical importance.
---We have many schools with a high percentage of students attending on-campus school, with few or no confirmed COVID-19 cases within the school population. We also continue to receive parent/guardian information indicating to us that the majority of student COVID-19 cases are being contracted outside of school. We are encouraged that our social distancing measures and cleaning practices are effective in reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission within our schools.
---Due to ADPH guidelines regarding quarantine, we currently have greater numbers of employee absences. On top of that, some regular substitutes are unavailable due to the COVID-19 situation. We are in great need of substitute teachers. If you or anyone you know would be a candidate for substitute teaching, this is one of the best ways you could support our schools during this time. Learn more about becoming a substitute in this section of our web site.
---As you may be aware, the COVID-19 situation has recently caused some schools in our state to alter their schedules or shift to remote learning. At this time, we have no plans to shift to remote learning. At any point in this year, if a situation arises that causes us to alter our schedule or shift to remote learning, either at the system level or school level, we would communicate that to our TCSS community as immediately as possible. As we have stated since the beginning of school, it is our goal to keep our schools open for in-person learning.
---When a student is identified as a close contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case in our schools, the student and their parent/guardian will receive a letter. There is a statement in the letter that reads:
“If your child tests negative for COVID-19 during their quarantine, and has a release from their medical provider, he/she may return to school if the release clearly states that along with the negative test, the medical provider is aware of the possible exposure and has cleared the student to return to school.”
It is our intention and expectation that students who are determined by our schools to be close contacts of a COVID-19 case will follow Alabama Department of Public Health guidelines and quarantine for 14 days. The statement above references an instance where there may be HIPPA-protected information, between a student and their medical provider, that the school is not aware of, but would allow them to return to school before the 14-day quarantine period ends. An instance such as this may exist, but would be rare. The purpose of the statement in the letter is to let a student and their parent/guardian know that a negative COVID-19 test alone, even accompanied by a doctor’s release, will not allow a student to return to school prior to the end of their quarantine period. The release from the physician must state that the physician is also aware of the possible exposure, and is still clearing them to return to school, before the ADPH-recommended quarantine period has ended. Again, a situation like this should be rare, but TCSS has been advised by the Alabama State Department of Education that our school nurses should accept a physician’s release in this instance. We are also aware that ADPH recently shared a reminder with the medical community, stressing the importance of isolation and quarantine guidelines.
As we move into the holiday season, we ask our TCSS community to please be extremely mindful of the practices health experts say are effective in fighting COVID-19. We also ask you to monitor official TCSS information channels for updated information. As challenging as this situation is, we do believe we will come out of this time stronger and better prepared to overcome adversity.