The Archdiocese of Mobile released part of its return-to-school protocols for the 2021-2022 academic year on July 27, outlining mask and vaccination guidelines for students across its Catholic school system.
In a letter to parents, Archbishop Thomas Rodi announced that students in Grades 7 through 12 who are vaccinated will not be required to wear masks when school resumes in August. For unvaccinated students in those grades, masks are recommended but not mandated.
Pre-school students are also not required to wear masks under the plan. The Archbishop said guidance for students in kindergarten through sixth grade would be released at the beginning of August, pending recommendations from the Alabama Department of Public Health. Students in those younger grades did not yet meet the age requirement to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the time of the announcement.
The partial plan reflected the archdiocese’s effort to balance in-person learning with health precautions as the highly transmissible delta variant drove a surge in COVID-19 cases across Alabama during the summer of 2021. Vaccines had been authorized for children ages 12 and older by that point, but were not yet available for younger students.
The Archdiocese of Mobile operates 19 Catholic schools across Mobile, Baldwin and surrounding counties, serving students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The full return-to-school plan was expected to be finalized once state health officials issued their updated guidance for the coming school year.