School Quarantine Policy Update To Be Given To Council

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — The County Council returns Tuesday for its first meeting of the fall legislative session, with a Montgomery County Public Schools update, a briefing on the renters relief program, and a slate of public hearings.

Council members said their inboxes have been flooded with parents concerned about school district COVID-19 quarantine policies, which some say send kids home for common symptoms such as a cold or allergies. Council President Tom Hucker said Monday that his own child's class was told to quarantine.

“I’m hopeful the briefing will bring more clarity on how the new quarantine guidelines and the testing plans will work moving forward, and how MCPS intends to minimize disruptions to learning, because I know they’ve put a lot of thought into it," he said.

The briefing is not the first time the council has talked with school district officials about coming up with good strategies, it's only intended to give people an update and overview of what's going on.

The council is also expected to hear from the Department of Health and Human services about the rent relief program, which gives money to applicants who are at risk of being evicted.

“Understandably, all of us are feeling a tremendous amount of urgency because of the looming crisis with regards to evictions on the horizon to provide as much support to all County residents as quickly as we can," said Council Vice President Gabe Albornoz.

Albornoz acknowledged some residents have been critical of the time it has taken to distribute payments, and said the Department of Health and Human Services is working to help the most vulnerable residents first, meaning the ones that are most at risk of eviction.

Public Hearings

The County Council meeting tomorrow will include public hearings on:

• commissioning a company to create a sculpture of Silver Spring resident Dominque Dawes, a three-time Olympian and the first Black woman from the United States to win an individual gold medal in gymnastics at the 1996 Olympic Games
• extending limitations on rent increases and late fees
• a bill that would fix typos and other stylistic errors in County law
• a bill that provides property tax credits for energy conservation devices and energy-efficient buildings
• a bill that could prohibit "no-rehire" clauses in employee settlement agreements
• a bill to allow Group J county employees to participate in DROP, a retirement benefits program
• a zoning map amendment that "supports the implementation of new zoning recommended by the recently adopted master plan by offering protections to the existing development character of Churchill Village."
• another zoning amendment to allow vehicle repair and service in the Rural Village Center (RVC) Overlay zone
• amendments to water and sewerage supply plans

Other Business

The council will discuss affordability guidelines for the FY2023 budget, recognize the 50th anniversary of community soccer program MSI, recognize prostate cancer awareness month and national recovery month.

See the full County County agenda and supporting documents here.

Want to participate in a council meeting? 1. Sign up to testify live via Zoom or by phone or 2. Submit written, audio or video testimony online.

How to watch the meeting: The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM) on Xfinity channels 6 and 996, RCN channels 6 and 1056; and FiOS channel 30. Also available live via streaming through the Council website at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8, Facebook Live (@MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil or @ConcejodelCondadodeMontgomery), or YouTube (@MoCoCouncilMD).