This story was updated at 8:15 p.m. on Dec. 17, 2021, to include the latest information on the MCPS guidance for winter sports, and news of Prince George’s County Public Schools’ decision to transition to virtual learning
As coronavirus cases rise in Montgomery County and throughout the nation, with the looming threat of the omicron variant on the horizon, school system leaders are urging students to take precautions during the upcoming winter break. But school and county officials say the aim is for in-person learning to continue.
In recent days, athletic teams at four Montgomery County high schools have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks. The outbreaks led the school system to implement new guidance, stating that a team must suspend activities for 14 days if there are five or more active cases. That guidance was amended on Friday to state that a team must suspend activities for 14 days if there are three or more active cases. Additionally, MCPS announced the suspension of nonathletic extracurricular activities through Jan. 7 and games for winter sports that were scheduled during winter break, between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2.
According to county health department spokeswoman Mary Anderson, the affected teams are:
- The wrestling team at James Hubert Blake High School in Colesville
- The varsity and junior varsity boys basketball teams, wrestling team and indoor track teams at Paint Branch High School in Silver Spring
- The varsity and junior varsity girls basketball teams at Col. Zadok Magruder High School in Derwood
- The varsity girls basketball and wrestling teams at Poolesville High School
Additionally, two private high schools in the county ceased virtual instruction this week due to outbreaks.
Despite the outbreaks at Georgetown Preparatory School and Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in recent days, Acting Health Officer Dr. James Bridgers and Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Earl Stoddard say county health officials have not discussed shutting down in-person learning at MCPS.
“Our goal throughout this has been, so long as we believe we can make the in-school environment as safe as possible–that includes through limiting cases, but also probably more importantly through distribution of vaccinations to prevent even those students who may or may develop COVID from having severe illness–as long as we believe that we can prevent serious outcomes for students, we know there is a serious outcome with students not being in the classroom,” Stoddard told reporters this week.
According to MCPS’s COVID-19 dashboard, there were 452 active cases of COVID-19 combined between faculty and students as of Wednesday, and 1,176 people who were actively quarantining (the dashboard is updated each week on Wednesdays). The school system has an enrollment of more than 159,000 students, as of Sept. 30.
Montgomery County Board of Education President Brenda Wolff told Bethesda Beat Thursday that officials are monitoring the situation and will “make adjustments as necessary.”
“It’s not our intent at this time to close any schools,” she said.
Wolff said she’s encouraged by the fact that the county has a high vaccination rate, which was at 82.2% for the entire population as of Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Wolff encouraged families to have their children wear a mask and get vaccinated as students go off for winter break next week.
School board member Lynne Harris, who has a background in public health, noted on Thursday that the omicron variant is highly transmissible, but not terribly virulent, or harmful.
“Our cases are rising quickly, [but]I’m not seeing anything that I didn’t really expect to see,” she said.
Harris said it’s important that MCPS rely on science-based guidance as it makes decisions going forward. It might be worth revisiting policies that allow players to not wear masks during games for some high-risk sports, she said.
“We can do this. We can implement common-sense measures to keep people safe, and still participate the activities that our students find value in,” she said.
Each individual school district in Maryland must make decisions based on the on-the-ground reality, Harris said. She noted that Howard County Schools recently canceled all extracurricular activities through Jan. 15, and three schools in Prince George’s County closed due to a rise in cases.
“To me, omicron is yet another COVID game-changer. We can’t pretend that the infectious agents don’t exist… this is the reality that we’re in now and we have to adapt,” she said.
Prince George’s County Public Schools announced on Friday that it would shift to virtual learning starting Monday, and it would remain that way at least through much of January.
Harris also urged students to be careful during the holidays and take common-sense measures such as getting vaccinated, washing hands, wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing.
“We’re moving into the holiday season, and I know everyone’s got COVID fatigue, but I want to ask everyone to be smart and careful about how to spend their time over the holidays,” she said.
Staff writer Steve Bohnel contributed to this story
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media
