By Barbara Britt – WMAL.com
BALTIMORE, MD – February 22, 2022
The Maryland State Board of Education (MDSE) today voted to begin the process to end the statewide school mask mandate in Maryland’s K-12 Public Schools and to return the masking in schools decision to the local school boards in Maryland. Today’s vote that rescinds the original emergency order still must be approved by a Maryland state legislative board called the AELR (Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review) which would not likely meet for ten days at the earliest.
Maryland State Superintendent Mohammed Choudry notes that several school systems in Maryland already meet the so-called off ramp metrics that were previously established by the Board back in December: including vaccination rates of 80 percent or more, or remaining in moderate transmission for 14 consecutive days. Based on those metrics, Choudry declares that Montgomery County, Frederick County, Howard County, and Prince George’s County meet those off ramp requirements, as does Anne Arundel, which is the only school system in Maryland thus far to declaring masking in schools optional.
The State BOE heard impassioned pleas from parents on both sides of the mask debate. Montgomery County Mom, Kerry Dingle telling the MDSE her young son now suffers speech delays that her child’s pediatrician says were exacerbated by wearing a mask in school each day. The Board also listened to the President of the Maryland State Education Association, Cheryl Bost, who urged MDSE to wait for expected guidance from the CDC on masking. Bost has called the vote premature.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan called the action by the Maryland School Board a major step for returning to normalcy and urged the Legislative Review Board the act swiftly.
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