Student Quarantine Guidelines Loosen In Montgomery County Schools As Rapid Testing Begins

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Students will now have to quarantine only when a close contact with COVID-19 symptoms tests positive or had a known exposure to someone with COVID-19.

The change comes as Montgomery County Public Schools begins rapid testing in school health rooms, which can help schools quickly determine what’s COVID-19 and what is just a run-of-the-mill cold symptom. Students can only be tested if parents opt-in to testing.

Before this change, any contact of a student who showed symptoms had to be quarantined until test results came back negative. Parents complained that this will keep too many kids home from school unnecessarily.

Acting Superintendent Monifa McKnight told the County Council Tuesday that everyone is working toward one common goal: keeping students learning in classrooms, safely. She noted that the decisions they make and policies they implement could have health impacts on students and their families.

“It truly is a tremendous responsibility, and one that we have taken very seriously and continue to take seriously,” said McKnight. “It’s really impacted every aspect of how we run the school district.”

McKnight said she’s created a 5-point plan to keep kids in school that she wants to share with the public:

COVID-19 Response Plan

1. Appoint a chief health officer for MCPS
2. Create a COVID-19 Operations Advisory Committee
3. Create a COVID-19 dashboard
4. Begin an outreach campaign to get more students opted in to the COVID-19 testing in schools, “Say Yes To The Test”
5. Give more support to help with schools’ COVID-19 responses.

The district will also conduct asymptomatic testing on students in pre-k through sixth grade. Parents can opt their kids into this program, and school leaders are working on increasing the number of kids opted in.

Vaccination Requirements

All Montgomery County Public Schools employees are going to be required to get the vaccine for COVID-19, and provide proof of a first dose by Sept. 30, the Board of Education decided.

"The Board passed this resolution as an added layer of protection, particularly for younger students who are not eligible to be vaccinated," Montgomery County Public Schools said in a letter after the announcement. "A series of vaccination clinics hosted by MCPS, DHHS, and other healthcare providers will be conducted across the county."

Teachers and staff were previously given the option to get vaccinated or be tested weekly.

Parents can find the form to opt their children into testing here.