FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. — The trend of school districts across the region lifting mask mandates continues this week. Frederick County Public Schools will become the latest Maryland school district to pull back from requiring face coverings for students and staff, but will continue to strongly encourage their use.
The Board of Education of Frederick County voted Wednesday night to no longer require face masks in school buildings. In a letter to the community, interim Superintendent Mike Markoe explained the decision is based on the latest COVID metrics.
"In Frederick County, we have reached that threshold with 80.4% of eligible county residents ages five and above fully vaccinated," Markoe said. "This is a significant change for us and a major step towards normalcy."
In explaining mask use going forward, the letter to families says, "FCPS is still welcoming mask use to minimize COVID-19 spread throughout the community. But this will be an individual family decision."
The noted exceptions where masks will still be required for students and staff include:
- Due to a federal mandate, face coverings will still be required on school buses for all drivers and riders.
- Individuals returning from isolation will also be required to wear face coverings from the sixth through the 10th day after their symptoms first appeared. Mask requirements when returning from isolation will be posted on FCPS.org later this week.
- In school health rooms or any clinical health setting where the CDC and other health guidance require all individuals to be masked.
COVID mitigation measures will continue through the end of the school year, which includes weekly screenings, isolation and exclusion of symptomatic and COVID positive students, and use of air purifiers in all classrooms.
According to Markoe's letter, contact tracing by the school district will no longer be considered feasible to determine if a student was exposed. However, the county health department will continue to contact trace cases outside of schools.
Frederick County joins Anne Arundel County Schools as some of the first local districts to make masks optional.
The Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, & Legislative Review in the Maryland General Assembly is expected Friday to cast the final vote on removing the statewide school mask mandate that the state Board of Education lifted Tuesday.