The MCPS Board of Education is expected to vote to lift its mask mandate at its next meeting on March 8. The move comes following declines in Covid case rates, updated CDC guidance and rescinded indoor mask mandates by the county government and state Board of Education.

The Board is yet to officially approve lifting the mandate, however, MCPS sent out a community update Saturday informing community members that the Board was likely to lift the mandate. The exact date of the mandate lift is still unknown.

Cases in MCPS have rapidly declined since returning from winter break, from a peak of 2833 cases system-wide on Jan 5, to only 28 on Feb 24. This reflects state and nation wide trends of a declining number of cases.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also announced changed mask guidance on Friday, removing its recommendation that people in K-12 schools wear masks. The Montgomery County indoor mask mandate expired Tuesday, Feb 21, after the county council declined to extend the mandate.

In addition, on Friday, the Maryland Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR) approved in a 12-2 vote the Maryland State BoE’s move to lift its statewide mask mandate, giving discretion back to individual counties and school districts. In its Thursday, Feb 24th meeting, the MCPS BoE delayed a vote on lifting its mask mandate to first wait for the AELR’s approval.

With changed guidelines and many other jurisdictions moving to or already having had removed mask mandates, board members see it hard for MCPS to continue mandating masks while other places do not.

“I think it would be hard for the system to mandate masking when basically nobody else is recommending that as a public health measure right now,” Board member Lynne Harris said to Bethesda Beat.

Board members Brenda Wolff, Rebecca Smondrowski and Karla Silvestre have stated that they would vote in favor of lifting the mandate, while Hana O’Looney, the student member of the board, remains opposed to the measure.

“Regardless of what the data says, perception is reality for students and families. I’m really afraid if we get rid of the mask mandate, it’s going to cause a lot of fear for students and families” O’Looney said at the meeting.

The MCPS community remains divided on the issue, with public testimony at Thursday’s meeting including statements both for and against the mask mandate.

“Masks are causing our children harm. Parents I have spoken to say their children have a hard time connecting with their peers and teachers. They feel alone and are falling behind in verbal skills,” parent Kate Day Roosma said at the Board meeting.

Students realize that this will be the first time in 2 years where students can walk the halls mask-less.

“It’ll be very strange because I haven’t seen people’s faces in years. I definitely will feel less safe without them and will be keeping mine on,” freshman Cassia Klein said.

Students are more opposed to lifting the mask mandate, echoing the sentiment of O’Looney.

“Quite frankly, even if MCPS decides to lift the school mask mandate, I’ll still be wearing mine anyways. Not wearing a mask is still dangerous to the community, even if we’ve started ignoring the virus and its impact more,” freshman Ajay Crispino said.

MCPS Athletics has already announced that effective March 1, student athletes and coaches will not be required to wear masks; student athletes and coaches, unlike MCPS students, must be vaccinated.