60 Baltimore City Public Schools Go Virtual As Teachers’ Union Blasts Administration; County Schools Virtual Until Tuesday

TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) — More than one-third of Baltimore City’s public schools closed to in-person instruction Monday, a last-minute decision made because of the high number of positive Covid-19 cases. In all, 60 of the city’s 155 schools went virtual.

You can see a list of the schools and any updates here: https://www.baltimorecityschools.org/alerts-updates

“I’m super worried. It put me into a dark place. I’m scared. I am afraid,” mother Khayah Benjamin told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. She has several students in the system including a second grader whose pod tested positive at George Washington Elementary. That school remains open.

“They’ve got to test everybody, and she can’t come back until the whole test results are in, which I understand,” Benjamin said. “I just got over it. It was like the worst—and I’m vaccinated. I’m just scared. I’m terrified.”

The school system has yet to update their covid dashboard, so it is unclear how many cases there are in the schools.

#COVID19 in Maryland this Monday⬇️
•78 more people hospitalized
•47 more deaths
•Overall pandemic deaths rise above 12,000
•9,683 new infections
•Positivity rate is just under 28%@wjz pic.twitter.com/NrySCG8QsM

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) January 10, 2022

The Baltimore Teachers Union tweeted that teachers have reported some schools never tested students when they were supposed to do so and even had to trash tests that were not taken to the lab.

Some insight from teachers of schools open today:
"My school didn't test Thursday"
"My school tested but didn't get any results back"
"My school has over 50% of our classes quarantining but we're still open"
"My school's tests weren't taken to the lab so they were trashed"

— Baltimore BTU (@BTUBaltimore) January 10, 2022

They had previously called for all-virtual learning for the first several weeks after the holiday break—until everyone could get tested—but the schools’ CEO would not budge.

For vital education decisions in the future we invite @SenBillFerg @corymccray @DelMaggie43 @Smith4Delegate to consider reaching out to the directly impacted + their chosen representatives BEFORE supporting a plan developed entirely by people removed from the on-ground reality.

— Baltimore BTU (@BTUBaltimore) January 10, 2022

Some lawmakers have demanded classrooms stay open, with the mayor promising 100,000 tests and 80,000 high-filtration masks.

Baltimore City Schools Push To Keep Classrooms Open Despite Omicron Surge; More Baltimore County Schools Go Virtual https://t.co/0y8hdv5ZPC

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) January 4, 2022

In Baltimore County, all classes will be virtual Monday and Tuesday.

COMMUNITY UPDATE: Please read this message for an important update on BCPS' COVID-19 response and plans for Jan. 10 and 11: https://t.co/dpC8tHAyHP

— Baltimore County Public Schools (@BaltCoPS) January 7, 2022

The county’s teachers union said it will likely not extend beyond that, with the exception of some schools that have had a high number of cases.

“II is my understanding there is absolutely no discussion about a systemwide shift to virtual,” TABCO President Cindy Sexton told Hellgren.

Sexton said staffing has become a major problem. “We’re at a crisis level. And that is certainly not a Baltimore County Public Schools’ issue. It is a Maryland issue. It is a national issue. …The quarantine and covid has just really exacerbated the situation.”