Maryland State Department of Education lifts mask mandate

In a community message released on Tuesday, MCPS announced that the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) voted to rescind the emergency mask mandate. 

 Because a joint legislative committee, which consists of 19 state lawmakers, must first approve the rescission and determine the effective date, the official date the mandate will be lifted is currently unknown. Though the committee's meeting date has not yet been determined, they have set March 1 as the tentative “target date” for the mandate being lifted. 

Should the committee approve the rescission of the emergency mask mandate, local school districts will determine independently whether to keep or rescind the mask mandate.

According to Bethesda Magazine, the state board initially approved several metrics regarding vaccinations and transmission that, if met, would allow districts to lift mandates before the statewide decision. With this most recent announcement, districts are no longer required to meet these metrics before lifting the mask mandate. 

In the community update, MCPS said, “A decision about masks in MCPS will be reviewed and made in the near future.” 

In the meantime, all students and staff are required to wear masks in schools and offices.