MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — A Montgomery County Public Schools survey showed that parents and families are split nearly down the middle about remaining strictly in virtual learning, according to survey information that was obtained by WUSA9's Adam Longo.
Of the 160,000 students and the families who returned surveys, 50.2% (63,760 votes) prefer to remain virtual-only to 48.9% (63,352 votes) would like some type of in-person learning. A 408 vote difference.
Montgomery County Public Schools had reached out constantly to parents over the last few weeks about answering the survey to help MCPS in its decision making.
“The selection for families who do not complete the survey will default to an all-virtual model of instruction," in its letter to parents.
Montgomery County Public Schools will vote on December 15 to bring back students to campuses on a limited scale. This could put students in an in-person learning environment by sometime in January.
MCPS' Board of Education delayed the vote last week so it could plan more and take more time for the decision.
“The truth is, for kids K through 12, one of the safest places they can be from our perspective is to remain in school," said CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield to reporters at the White House last Thursday.
Redfield said the CDC has newer data to rely on to help it make such claims.
“Today, there's extensive data that we've gathered over the last two to three months to confirm that K-12 schools can operate with face-to-face learning and they can do it safely and they can do it responsibly,” he said.
The Maryland State Department of Education did release a statement regarding the CDC.
"MSDE continues to refer to the existing guidance in the Education Recovery Plan, as well as Covid-19 Guidance for Maryland Schools issued in partnership with the Maryland Department of Health, which support the reopening of schools."
Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles sent a letter to all private schools in his county Thursday.
It stated current data shows coronavirus cases attributed to exposure in Montgomery schools have been low. However, it also said that per guidance from the Maryland departments of education and health, all schools should strongly consider a return to full virtual learning due to the current COVID case surge.
