UPDATE: Masks will become optional at Baltimore County Public Schools on March 1st.

Original story below…

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TOWSON, MD—Baltimore County Public Schools officials on Wednesday provided an update on when school masking requirements might be eliminated.

On February 10, 2022, Baltimore County’s COVID-19 case rate dropped below 100 cases per 100,000 residents, moving the county out of the CDC’s high transmission category and into the substantial transmission category. Health officials from the Baltimore County Department of Health (BCDH), and health experts from Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland believe that, if rates continue to decline at this pace, Baltimore County will enter the moderate transmission category as soon as the end of this month.

On February 22, 2022, the Board of Education of Baltimore County discussed action taken by the Maryland State Board of Education to rescind its emergency mask mandate. The Maryland General Assembly’s Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR) committee must approve the decision and determine what date the mandate would be lifted statewide. If the committee approves the MSDE decision, local school districts will have the ability to make an independent decision about mask mandates.

Based on the county’s improved metrics and recent action by the State Board of Education, BCPS officials are making the following updates to their mitigation plan:

• Masks/face coverings will be optional in schools and offices the first school d ay after Baltimore County has 14 consecutive days of COVID-19 case rates in the moderate or low transmission levels (less than 50 cases per 100,000 residents over 7 days). BCPS will notify the community once the county has met this metric.
• Masks will still be required on school buses (in alignment with federal requirements).
• Masks will still be required in school health rooms (in alignment with CDC guidance).

Additional information is available on the BCPS COVID-19 page.

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