NOTTINGHAM, MD—Baltimore County Public Schools officials have announced that all school buildings will be closed on Monday, January 10 and Tuesday, January 11.

The closure is taking place to provide staff with the necessary time needed to prepare instructional lessons in the event of a temporary transition to virtual learning for their specific school.

Staff from the BCPS Division of Curriculum and Instruction have prepared independent learning activities for all students on Monday and Tuesday. These activities cover multiple content areas, including science, social studies, math and language arts, and will be posted online.

Currently, schools that are temporarily switching to virtual instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic are starting off with two days of asynchronous (independent) learning before live instruction begins on day three. BCPS officials hope to eliminate that asynchronous period and make certain that students are receiving live instruction on the first day of the temporary virtual period.

Schools (except for those temporarily providing virtual instruction) will reopen on Wednesday, January 12 for in-person instruction.

Curbside meals will be available for pickup on Monday, January 10 at all BCPS schools from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Additional COVID-19 testing opportunities for staff will take place Monday, January 10 at all BCPS middle schools from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. All BCPS staff are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this testing provided by CIAN diagnostics.

Distribution of COVID-19 rapid home test kits will take place on Tuesday, January 11 at each school. BCPS will distribute 126,000 test kits to BCPS staff and students. The district has ordered additional testing kits, and anticipates they will arrive by Friday, January 14, 2022. Principals will contact their school communities to provide details on the distribution of testing kits.

Distribution of KN95 masks as an additional option for students and staff began Wednesday, January 5, 2022. To date, 74,000 adult-sized masks have been delivered to schools for staff and secondary students and we have ordered 54,000 child-size masks. Additional orders for KN95 masks have been placed to build our current PPE supply.

The full update from Baltimore County Public Schools is available online here.