MD Coronavirus: No School Closure Decision, Superintendent Says

MARYLAND — No decisions will be made regarding school closures yet, officials said Tuesday at the Maryland State Board of Education meeting. Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Karen Salmon first ordered schools to close temporarily a little more than a month ago to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. Decisions about the closing or opening of schools would be made in a different venue, officials said at the meeting, held by teleconference.

State and local officials have been "working 24/7 to ensure there was a laser-light focus on providing continuity of learning to all students regardless of the amount of time we are out of school," Salmon said.

Each week she has met with superintendents to understand their needs, she said.

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When asked by a board member about jurisdictional disparities, Salmon said: "It is a moving target right now," as far as how instruction is being delivered across the state. "We anticipate that information" in the near future.

Each local school system has been asked to submit a plan, including what its distance learning platform entails, what kind of technology is available and how they will serve students without internet. Staff descriptions must be outlined, and a plan of accountability must also be detailed. Specific courses of action for serving gifted students and homeless students have to be included.

"We are learning a lot as we develop these plans, as no effort of this scale has ever been attempted in the history of our state's school system," Salmon said Tuesday, April 14.

Over the past month, she said she has assembled work groups at the state level to assess things like grading, graduation and other subjects, creating a frequently asked questions document that is on the state school board's website as a resource hub.

Nearly 4M Meals Served

Initially, public schools in Maryland were ordered to close from March 16 to March 27 in response to the new coronavirus. On March 25, Salmon said they would remain closed through April 24.

Since announcing the closure, Salmon said officials have served almost 4 million meals.

Efforts were made to ramp up the program, which in its first week served 440,000 meals at 140 sites. Last week, Salmon said more than 1.3 million meals were served at over 600 sites, after the state was provided with federal funding to assist with its meal distribution programs.

The U.S. Department of Education informed Salmon Monday that Maryland will receive more than $270 million, of which 90 percent will be allocated to local systems to support expenses dating back to March.

See the Maryland State Department of Education's coronavirus website for more information.

The school board also approved waivers of certain graduation requirements during its meeting Tuesday.

Maryland Graduation Waivers

Related:

• MD Coronavirus Cases Near 9,000; Search By ZIP Code
• MD Coronavirus Prompts Extended Public School Closures
• MD Coronavirus Peak Estimate Released By Health Expert
• MD Coronavirus: Governor Hogan Issues Stay-At-Home Order