The Maryland Legislative Committee on Friday approved the state Board of Education’s decision to allow all 24 local school districts to decide whether to require face coverings in schools.
The decision, effective immediately, lifts the emergency order requiring the wearing of masks in schools, which has been in effect since the beginning of the school year. Both Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, and State School Superintendent Mohammed Chowdhury lobbied for the decision, which was passed the same day Centers for Disease Control and Prevention releases new camouflage guide this allows many other areas of the country to relax pandemic restrictions.
Other states also announced easing of some restrictions on Friday, including California, Colorado and Illinois.
The Maryland Education Association, a union that represents 76,000 teachers and other support staff, called for caution, asking that the mask requirement remain in place longer.
The mandate was updated in December to give local school systems the option to lift the mask requirement if the spread of the coronavirus remains moderate or low for two weeks, or if the school or community vaccination rate exceeds 80 percent. Several school districts have passed the threshold, and one, Ann Arundel District, has complied with the standards and decided to make masks optional. Face coverings will remain mandatory on school buses.
Cheryl Bost, a fourth and fifth grade teacher who is the union’s president, said in an interview that the system is working well and that the school districts have reached a safe level. She urged to wait a week or two before lifting the state mandate for masks.
“You have to give counties and families transition time to make decisions,” she said. “Currently, there are students and teachers who can take part in face-to-face teaching due to the mandatory wearing of masks.”
Ms. Bost, who is immunocompromised, said the union wants students and families with higher levels of vulnerability to have more opportunities for distance learning. Educators with special health needs should also have paid sick leave or alternative employment, she said, and districts should continue to provide masks, conduct testing and contact tracing to keep community transmission low.
Less than 10 states still require a mask in K-12 schools, although federal guidance recommends that people in outbreak areas and all students, teachers, and school staff wear masks regardless of their vaccination status. Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Oregon, among other states, have announced plans to lift mask requirements in schools across the state, citing a waning Omicron surge.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will release New guidelines emerged on Friday to determine when and where people should wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid crowded spaces. Guidance is directing counties to consider three measures to assess their risk of exposure to the virus: new Covid-related hospitalizations in the previous week, the percentage of hospital beds occupied by Covid patients, and the new coronavirus, two federal officials familiar with the plans said. cases per 100,000 people in the previous week.
“With the new structure, Maryland is in a great location,” Mr. Chowdhury, principal of the school, said Friday afternoon. “We can’t keep our kids in disguise forever. This is a good time to do it.”