By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Chilton County Schools Superintendent Tommy Glasscock has issued a statement regarding how the school system will handle the Aug. 21 eclipse.

School will dismiss at the usual time, and students will be kept inside from noon until dismissal time.

The superintendent also states that the schools will not provide eclipse viewing glasses.

“With many of the glasses being sold and recalled, there is no safe way to determine if the glasses are indeed appropriate for viewing,” Glasscock said.

Glasscock lists liability and safety as concerns against allowing students to view the solar eclipse.

“Every legal opinion I have received states there is no safe way to appropriately cover our employees from a liability standpoint should we allow our students to view the eclipse,” Glasscock states.

Parents can, however, check their child out of school early.

According the statement, ” Parents who wish to check their child or children out will not be counted absent.”

To read the complete statement, visit chilton.k12.al.us.

NASA has projected a total eclipse will visible from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina, but a partial eclipse will occur throughout North America. Looking at a total solar eclipse, when the moon totally blocks the sun, is safe, but short.

” The only safe way to look directly at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun is through special-purpose solar filters, such as ‘eclipse glasses’ or hand-held solar viewers,” According to Nasa’s Eclipse 101 Safety. “Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the sun; they transmit thousands of times too much sunlight.”

NASA will also provide live coverage of the event starting at noon. Visit eclipse2017.nasa.gov for more information.