The Montgomery County Board of Education recently announced new measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, such as the implementation of rapid testing for students who have potential coronavirus symptoms and testing for kindergarten through sixth grade beginning Sept. 13. The Board also mandated that all staff members and student athletes participating in winter or spring sports must be vaccinated.
Further details about MCPS’s hybrid learning plans were also released, a plan that will only happen if the Maryland State Department of Health limits school capacities.
“The plan incorporates staff input and an analysis of hybrid learning from last spring,” the Sept. 9 community message from MCPS said. “It addresses specific strategies for students receiving special education services, information about technology supports, and grading and reporting policies, among other things.”
The County hopes to avoid this situation, so unless staff members have a medical exemption, they will need to get their first shot by Sept. 30 and second shot by Oct. 29. MCPS Spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala told WTOP that staff who fail to get vaccinated could be “terminated.”
“This is part of our strategy to construct the health and safety of students and staff,” Onijala said in an interview with The MoCo Student.
The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA)—the teachers’ union representing more than 14,000 MCPS staff members—supports the vaccination requirement.
“I think that it’s been clear that the science is telling us vaccination is the very best thing we can do to fight COVID. And teachers, educators follow the science,” MCEA President Jennifer Martin said. “We, as educators, have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the students we serve.”
Martin says that while a few members have opposed the requirement, the rest of the union believes it will provide the best chance for normalcy.
Another sign of normalcy will be winter sports, most of which are inside and high-contact. All winter and spring athletes need to be vaccinated to participate unless they have a documented medical exemption.
“That move was made as part of our multi-layer health strategy for the whole system,” Onijala said. “I think most people at this point understood the importance of getting vaccinated and how that is a critical factor in our ability to continue our everyday activities.”
On Sept. 13, MCPS also rolled out asymptomatic testing for vaccine-eligible students in kindergarten through sixth grade, and rapid testing for students displaying symptoms.
The pool-style testing for younger students means that some members of a class are randomly selected for testing if the students’ parents opt in. If one pool is positive, schools must conduct more comprehensive testing.
“It’s going very well. We’re hoping to quickly expand to secondary schools as well,” Onijala said. “In addition to the asymptomatic testing, we’re also offering on-site rapid testing for a student who is displaying COVID-19 symptoms.”
For students with potential COVID-19 symptoms, school nurses will provide them with a test. If a student tests negative for the coronavirus, they will be able to return to class and schools will be able to avoid contact tracing.
The hope is that this will help avoid unnecessary student quarantines. Over 1,500 students were sent home to quarantine in the first two weeks of the year. Unless an entire class of elementary schoolers is in quarantine, students may not join class over Zoom. Instead, they have virtual check-ins with their teachers.
On Sept. 9, the Los Angeles Unified School District in California announced that all eligible students need to be vaccinated by the end of the calendar year. This policy is not currently in place for MCPS students but could be in the future.
“At this time, that is usually a decision that’s driven by the state,” Onijala said. “The Maryland Department of Health outlines every year what immunizations and vaccinations are required for students. We are not aware of any state decisions at this time, but should that be the direction, Montgomery County of course would follow suit.”
Being back in the building is a relief for many students, parents and staff. Martin says that her members have felt a range of emotions about being back, but most are happy to be back. She hopes the new policies keep everyone safe and in person.
“There was a great deal of good energy as people went into the school year, saying ‘I’m back with my kids. I can’t believe how tall they are.’” Martin said. “It’s been really uplifting to be able to be back where we know we can do our jobs well. It also has been a really anxious time. We have children at home, ourselves; we have family members with health conditions; we may have health conditions ourselves that put us at risk. We are frontline workers now.”
Article by Jeremy Fredricks of Winston Churchill High School
Photo courtesy of May Pham