SNOW HILL– Masks are now optional at Worcester County’s public schools.
Following a decision by the Maryland State Board of Education to permit local school systems to decide on whether students should wear masks, the state’s Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Committee (AELR) voted last Friday to end the statewide mask mandate. Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS) Superintendent Lou Taylor announced in a statement immediately following the committee’s decision that face coverings would no longer be required in school facilities.
“However, WCPS still strongly recommends the wearing of face coverings for both our students and staff, especially as current guidance regarding quarantine and exclusion remain unchanged,” Taylor said. “…we also look forward to receiving updated guidance from federal and state health officials soon to assist school systems like ours with our goal of keeping our students in the classroom, where we know they learn best.”
Officials from Worcester County and the school board reached out to the state last month asking for more local control related to masking and COVID-19 protocols.
“Once again, the Worcester County Board of Education is very pleased that the AELR voted to support the state board of education’s action earlier this week to place decision making back into the hands of local school system leaders,” Worcester County Board of Education President Elena McComas said in a statement Friday. “We are thankful for the Committee’s action today, as it is time for our local leaders to now take the reins and make decisions that are in the best interest of our communities.”
Though Taylor advised parents in a message Friday that students would have to continue to wear masks on buses, as that was a federal requirement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced late Friday that it was no longer requiring that masks be worn on buses and vans operated by school systems. Taylor confirmed the CDC change in a message to parents on Saturday and said masks in school and on school transportation would be optional but strongly recommended.
When asked this week about how many students continued to wear masks, staff reported a mix.
“While I don’t have any hard data on this, in my observation from walking around a few schools and talking with others who have done the same, it seems to be a fairly strong mixture across the school system—both in terms of students and staff—of those who have chosen to not wear face coverings and those who have continued to wear them,” said Carrie Sterrs, the school system’s coordinator of public relations and special programs.
