Tuscaloosa City Schools learning virtually Monday

By WVUA 23 News Reporter Elise Anzaldua

Tuscaloosa City Schools will be closed Friday, Jan. 21 and holding a virtual learning day on Monday, Jan. 24. As of Sunday, the system is scheduled to return to classrooms Tuesday, Jan. 25.

Tuscaloosa City Schools Superintendent Mike Daria said why this decision will have a positive impact on the rest of the school year.

“The decision for tomorrow and Monday in large part is about the long run. Our folks are doing an amazing work. We’re here at Arcadia Elementary School where the teachers here and in all of our schools, and staff do an amazing jobs, but there’s a fatigue level and we have to account for that because we need our teachers in our classrooms providing high quality instruction for the rest of this year and into the years to come.

Daria said the days away from school will serve as a district reset, allowing teacher’s time for planning and crews to do a deep cleaning of all school buildings.

As of Jan. 20, 592 faculty members and students are out of school because of COVID-19.

With these few days of students away from the classroom, this will provide time to address these staffing challenges and give instructors time to plan moving forward.