Baltimore County Public Schools Changes Mask Policy As Of March 1

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Masks will be optional in schools and facilities Tuesday, March 1, according to Baltimore County Public Schools.

The school system made the announcement Friday night, hours after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance about face coverings.

“Working together, we have been able to follow the science and safely return to in-person learning, keep school buildings open through the Omicron surge, and are now able to lift some COVID restrictions," Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Darryl Williams said in a statement Friday night. “We greatly appreciate the support of all members of Team BCPS over the past two years."

On Friday, the CDC announced it was changing how it measures COVID-19 in communities, by hospitalizations and new cases rather than by case and positivity rates. It categorizes jurisdictions as low, medium or high risk related to COVID-19, in part based on the strain on health care systems.

Baltimore County is classified as low risk for COVID-19 by the CDC, based on the new criteria. For those in low-risk communities, the CDC recommends people stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if symptomatic, but it does not recommend face coverings.

Masks are only recommended for people in high-risk communities and for those with underlying health conditions that make them at high risk for COVID-19. The only high-risk community in Maryland as of Friday is Allegany County.

Related: CDC Updates COVID Mask Guidelines: What It Means In Maryland

Lawmakers in Annapolis on Friday afternoon ratified the Maryland State Board of Education's decision earlier in the week to let local jurisdictions make decisions around face coverings.

Within hours, County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. issued a statement throwing his support behind lifting the mask mandate in Baltimore County Public Schools and urging parents to ensure their children were vaccinated.

"I am confident that we can safely move to optional masking for students and educators and I fully support having BCPS lift the mask requirement in Baltimore County school buildings," Olszewski said. "For two years, this pandemic has upended all of our lives – and particularly the lives of our children. With a high vaccination rate and all of our metrics heading in the right direction, it’s time for a return to normal."

He said he "applauded" the decision by the school system to make masks optional.

The president of the school board thanked students, families and staff for their "extraordinary efforts, flexibility and patience ... over the past several months" as well as administrators working to "mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 in our schools, preserving in-person instruction" in the midst of the pandemic.

“The Board of Education is committed to providing a healthy school environment for all students and staff,” Baltimore County Board of Education Chair Julie Henn said in a statement.

As of Friday, the CDC no longer requires masks on school buses. This includes vans and buses operated by both public and private school systems, as well as early care and child care programs.