Anne Arundel County Public Schools Will Remove Mask Mandate From School Buses

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Anne Arundel County Public Schools will no longer require its students, their caretakers, and others to wear face masks on school buses while in transit to school-related programs starting Monday.

The public school system announced the change via a social media post on Saturday.

School officials said their decision to lift the mask mandate on buses mirrors a recent decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to amend its federal mask order.

"As is the case in our school buildings, masks will be optional on school buses when those buses are carrying out school-related functions," officials said in a statement on the school's website. "We reiterate what Superintendent George Arlotto wrote in his letter to families and employees on February 17, 2022: There will be absolutely no tolerance for anyone who wishes to intimidate, tease, or bully anyone else for their choice of whether to wear a mask or not."

The CDC said on Friday that it would not require people to "wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early car and and education/child care programs" in areas with low or medium levels of COVID-19 transmission.

Last week the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Board of Education voted 8–0 to remove the mask mandate from its public schools.

The unanimous decision to change the mask mandate came just as some parents challenged the Maryland State Board of Education's mask mandate with a lawsuit.

Earlier in the month, Gov. Larry Hogan had called on the Maryland State Board of Education to rescind its mask mandate, pointing to the state's improving health metrics as the Omicron-driven surge in cases and hospitalizations continues to wane.

Hogan said in a letter to board president Clarence Crawford that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse impact on children. They have been impacted by school closures and other disruptions leading to learning loss and mental health challenges, he said.

"A growing number of medical professionals, parents, and bipartisan state officials throughout the nation are calling for an end to school mask requirements," Hogan wrote in the letter. "In light of dramatic improvements to our health metrics and the widespread availability of vaccines, I am calling on you to take action to rescind this policy."

Face masks will continued to be required for everyone who enters Fort Meade's facilities and schools—such as Meade Heights Elementary School—in compliance with the Defense Department's regulations, according to school officials.