Parents At Odds On School Mask Mandates As Localities Confront Mounting Pressure
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) — Governor Larry Hogan wrote a letter to the State Board of Education requesting that the board of education rescind the mask policy in public schools.
The Board later responded in an extensive letter. It thanked the governor for his leadership and also explained that the mandate will remain in place; however, local superintendents can get rid of the requirement if (1) at least 80-percent of the students and staff in a school is fully vaccinated (2) if the county has 14 straight days of moderate or low COVID-19 transmission.
Parents who want the mandates to be optional rallied outside the school board meeting in Howard County on Thursday night.
"There's a lot of psychological problems going on, it creates a lot of anxiety, creates depression, as I told you earlier and makes it harder for kids to make friends," says Rachel Coutts, who thinks masks should be optional in schools. "In terms of parents who are nervous, I'm not saying that we should get rid of masks completely, I'm saying we should make masks optional."
Howard County government said it met one of the so-called "off-ramp" benchmarks last fall. At least 90 percent of people 12 and up have been vaccinated, but the board has decided to keep masks.
"We want to make sure that we are interpreting the data the correct way not to put our community at risk, our students at risk, our staff at risk," says Dr. Michael J. Martirano, the Howard County superintendent of schools.
It's a different story in Carroll County, where that board wants to end the mask policy in schools, and they have the support of their senator in Annapolis.
"It's time to restore this authority to local boards and let's get this mask mandate removed and let's unmask the kids and the staff and let things get back to normal," says Senator Justin Ready.
"I really am concerned that we are rushing too much," says Lejla Heric Safadi, who supports masks in schools. "I really do think that parents ultimately should insist on masks for at least the seeable future until we have more information on how COVID impacts kids and adults alike long-term."
"We don't have a crystal ball to look into the future and figure that out, which is why I think we should exercise some caution before we take these masking mandates into consideration," says Annette Anderson, Ph.D., the deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Center for safe and healthy schools.
The State Board of Education has a meeting later this month and in a letter sent to the governor, the board said "At each monthly meeting, the State Board reviews current COVID-19 metrics in the State to assess the need for the continuation of the regulation. Our commitment has not changed, and we look forward to reviewing the latest data and health guidance at the State Board meeting on February 22, 2022."
