A Follow-up Message from the Superintendent Regarding Masks on School Buses Posted 2/26/22
This is in follow-up to our message yesterday announcing that masks are no longer required in schools following the vote of the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR) to rescind the mask mandate as recommended by the Maryland State Board of Education.
In addition to the AELR decision, yesterday, February 25, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level. The CDC also lifted the requirement that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems. We received confirmation of this change from the Maryland State Department of Education. The entire updated masking statement from the CDC can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html.
Therefore, effective immediately, masks will now be optional in Carroll County Public Schools and on CCPS school buses. Again, students, bus drivers, and bus assistants who wish to continue to wear face coverings are encouraged to do so.
We understand that some families will still want their child to wear a mask on the school bus. Our expectation is that all students and staff respect the decisions that individual families and staff make as we transition through this time of masks being optional. As always, we want all of our students and staff to be comfortable with whatever their approach might be to masks in school and on the bus and ask that those individual decisions be respected.
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Here are some additional details:
From the CDC:
See the full details here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/face-masks-public-transportation.html
Also from the CDC:
See the full details here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html
Scott E
’bout time.