For the past two years, wearing a mask while going to the mall or the grocery store has become a mundane habit in daily routines. When in-person learning began, these masks found a new home: schools.  However, on Feb. 22, the Maryland State Department of Education voted to remove the emergency mask mandate for grades K-12 across the state starting March 1, instead allowing each individual school district to decide for themselves. 

Despite this ruling, MCPS should continue to require masks for students at schools. Student safety should be a top priority for the county and allowing students to choose whether or not they want to wear a mask will only cause COVID-19 cases to rise. 

Though there has been a steady decline in cases in Montgomery County, there are still new positive results reported every day, with the daily average being 112 new cases as of Feb. 21, according to the New York Times. In MCPS alone, there have been 620 positive cases reported in February. With many students being asymptomatic or not reporting positive results, this number could actually be much higher. 

Students are in classes for almost seven hours each day in extremely close contact with each other. The desks are not spaced out far enough apart and hallways are overcrowded. With such a contagious virus and inadequate protections, masks to cover the nose and mouth are the only barriers to the easy spreading of COVID-19. 

The positive effects of masks can also be found for teachers and other adults in the building. A study done in schools in Germany showed that masks significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19, specifically among staff. Without a mask mandate, adults had a 4.48 secondary case average, which dropped to 0.55 with a mask obligation. 

When looser restrictions on gatherings are combined with more people becoming comfortable with traveling again, it is much easier for people from areas with higher case numbers to spread into Montgomery County. 

Removing the mandate would also result in more kids missing important instruction days. In February alone, 540 students in MCPS were quarantined, according to the MCPS COVID-19 School Dashboard. Though this is a big decline from 15,203 in January, students are still missing lectures, assignments and tests. Missing up to ten days of school puts students behind in their classes and makes it difficult for them to make up work on top of understanding the content.

Many students may also feel uncomfortable returning to school if the mask mandate is removed. They may not want to put their physical health at risk, especially immunocompromised students. Some may refuse to sit next to a maskless student, which would be very difficult for teachers to work around. Others may choose to stay at home, putting them at a disadvantage in their classes. Making sure all students have access to in-person instruction safely and comfortably should be MCPS’s primary concern.

Everyone is eager to get back to normal and see peoples’ faces. After two long years of isolation, social distancing and masks, every step to loosen restrictions is a step forward. Steady vaccination rates and a consistent decline in cases should be considered when making a decision to rescind the mask mandate in schools. Regardless of this, however, MCPS needs to prioritize proper COVID-19 safety precautions, including face masks, at least for a few more months.