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State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury, local superintendents and teachers unions all say that they are committed to fully reopening schools in-person this fall, and some lawmakers are pushing for a vaccine mandate for teachers to protect children under 12 years old who are not able to be vaccinated.
鈥淭he delta variant is very real and strong and people have fears that are arising again, but that鈥檚 not going to stop us from鈥aving our schools open,鈥� Choudhury told lawmakers during a joint House Appropriations and Ways and Means Committee briefing on school re-openings Wednesday. This was Choudhury鈥檚 first public meeting with state lawmakers since he took the helm of the state鈥檚 public school system on July 1.
In updated state guidance last month, Maryland education and health officials 鈥渟trongly recommend[ed],鈥� but did not require all eligible Marylanders to get vaccinated.
But some lawmakers contended that there should be a vaccine mandate for teachers to protect students.
For the past year and a half, children have 鈥渉ad to sit in the house to protect adults, and now all we鈥檙e asking is adults to put something on the line for them 鈥� it just feels like it鈥檚 not equal,鈥� Del. Stephanie Smith (D-Baltimore City) said.
Harford County Superintendent Sean Bulson told lawmakers that local superintendents think vaccine mandates should be a state initiative and called it 鈥渁 very difficult subject.鈥�
Del. Kirill Reznik (D-Montgomery) took issue with Bulson鈥檚 comment.
鈥淚鈥檓 a little disheartened at the notion that this is a difficult subject. We require every one of the hundreds of thousands of children that go into our schools to get vaccinated. We鈥檝e been doing it for decades,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his shouldn鈥檛 be a difficult subject 鈥� the vaccine is safe.鈥�
Baltimore Teachers Union President Diamonte Brown said that the union has not surveyed its members about vaccine mandates and does not have a date on when they will do so.
鈥淭he clock is ticking, so I think maybe it鈥檚 time to get that survey out,鈥� said Del. Benjamin S. Barnes (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George鈥檚).鈥淟et鈥檚 make sure the adults who can [get vaccinated] do, to protect our kids,鈥� he said.
California Gov. Gavin 草莓传媒om (D) announced Wednesday that all schoolteachers and staff in his state must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or do weekly testing, making it the first state to mandate vaccines for educators.
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona also said Wednesday that he supports mandating the vaccine for teachers and school staff.
Vaccine mandate or not, Choudhury pressed for a full return to in-person learning with layers of safety measures to preclude schools from resorting to shuttering their doors whenever there is an outbreak, which is also in line with the U.S. Department of Education guidance.
鈥淚 would hope there are no scenarios where a single school in Maryland has to close,鈥� Choudhury said. 鈥淚 just don鈥檛 see why that would need to happen personally 鈥� just with all the support.鈥�
However, there is nothing in place that would block local school districts from closing, he continued.
Cheryl Bost, president of the Maryland State Education Association, told lawmakers that there is still a lack of statewide guidance on masking, which 鈥渁llows for patchwork guidance from local school systems across the state and makes enforcement very difficult for our educators. It is confusing and without it, we will not stop the spread of the delta variant,鈥� she said.
Maryland education and health officials鈥� updated guidance 鈥渟trongly recommends鈥� but does not require unvaccinated students and staff to wear masks when they return to school in the fall. Local school systems and child care programs will be able to set their own policies; as of Wednesday, at least 10 school districts are requiring masks to start the school year, including Montgomery and Prince George鈥檚 counties and the city of Baltimore.
Although Choudhury said most virtual programs have 鈥渘ot been good for learning,鈥� he acknowledged that it works better for some students. So far, around 1.5% of students across the state have chosen a virtual learning option, according to Choudhury. Carroll and Garrett counties are the only school systems in the state that are not offering a virtual option.
In addition to state law requirements on virtual learning programs, there will be additional 鈥済uardrails,鈥� Choudhury said. These include ensuring that there are meaningful ways to mark attendance and engagement that go beyond simply logging in, offering face-to-face tutoring, providing mentors to help with time management and establishing a technology help desk.
鈥淭here is unprecedented funding both from the federal [relief funds] and the Blueprint to be able to do this, and whether it鈥檚 virtual or in-person, there should be opportunities to be able to do small group instruction at the greatest level possible,鈥� Choudhury said.
The Blueprint for Maryland鈥檚 Future is a multi-million, decade-long education reform effort that begins this year.
Although a record number of students are attending summer school this year to catch up on lost learning, national trends suggest that students are set back by multiple years. For instance, Texas gave spring assessments and found that students were set back by five years in Algebra, according to Choudhury.
Maryland delayed statewide assessments until the fall, which will yield more data on how much learning loss occurred in the state. For now, Choudhury said he has been telling schools to prepare to 鈥渆mbrace the new baselines and let鈥檚 get to work.鈥�
But returning to pre-pandemic times is not enough, Choudhury said. The additional resources from the Blueprint, as well as federal relief funds serves as an opportunity for the state to transform its schools, he continued.
Choudhury told lawmakers more than once that he plans 鈥渢o get in trouble for engaging too much鈥� with lawmakers and stakeholders.
鈥淚 am going to be redesigning this department to be highly responsive and highly active,鈥� Choudhury said. 鈥淚 told 鈥� the PSSAM (Public School Superintendents鈥� Association of Maryland) group recently 鈥� 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 just use local control against me, I鈥檓 going to want to know how you鈥檙e doing.鈥欌��
鈥淭he Blueprint legislation is not about local control 鈥� it鈥檚 about best practices,鈥� he said.
