Board of Education Bferguson and Senate 8 25 21.Docx
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August 25, 2021 Clarence Crawford, President Jean Halle, Vice President Maryland State Board of Education 200 West Baltimore Street Baltimore, MD 21201 Dear President Crawford and Vice President Halle: As the 2021-2022 school year quickly approaches, we are writing with immense urgency to request that the State Board of Education promulgate a temporary emergency regulation mandating that all children, faculty, and staff wear masks in every Maryland elementary and secondary school and congregate seing with children in any county with a substantial or high COVID-19 transmission rate, as determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the State body responsible for providing oversight and management of our Local Education Agencies, it is incumbent on the State Board of Education to provide leadership to protect the health and safety of school communities. We are glad to see the State Board of Education considering the issue of masking in Maryland schools and hope its decision will reflect the immediacy this moment requires. Over the last 18 months, we have experienced just how important in-person instruction is for student success for the vast majority of children. As much as we had hoped that Maryland and the United States would have turned a corner on the COVID-19 pandemic in time for this school year, it is readily apparent that we are not progressing as quickly as we had hoped, particularly in unvaccinated communities (which most certainly includes those communities with children under the age of 12 who are unable to receive the vaccine). Continuous in-person instruction this school year is critical, and we must protect students' ability to learn with other children in school buildings statewide throughout this school year. The Delta variant has proven to be devastating in school districts across the country that have opened in recent weeks with insufficient mitigation efforts, like universal masking. Tens of thousands of students are currently quarantined due to school-level outbreaks as their buildings temporarily shuer, and an unacceptable and avoidable number of children are filling intensive care units (ICU) as some hospitals are stretched beyond capacity. Impacted school communities outside Maryland have been forced to close and transition to virtual instruction to contain outbreaks. These closures have downstream economic consequences as parents must once again stay home with their children, creating workplace instability and risking parents’ jobs as the economy is gaining steam. Fortunately, that is not yet our reality in Maryland. We must do everything reasonable in our power to minimize the risk to our students, many of whom are too young to receive a COVID-19 vaccine to protect them from the most serious impacts of this virus. The Maryland General Assembly worked with Governor Hogan to allocate $80 million in federal funds to improve HVAC and ventilation systems in school buildings across the State, but that is only one piece of a broader strategy. Universal masking has proven to be effective in the past, and must be a key procedure to keep our children safe and school buildings open. Despite the proven efficacy of masking to reduce COVID-19 transmission, five Maryland jurisdictions have opted to make masks optional. Many of those same jurisdictions in which masks are entirely optional have some of the highest rates of COVID-19 transmission in the entire State. We deeply value the importance of local autonomy in public education, but, sadly, we know that COVID-19 does not respect political boundaries and state action is essential to establish a threshold health standard. It is absolutely vital that the Maryland State Board of Education exercise its leadership capacity and ensure that masking is not a political football for local boards of education to litigate despite clear scientific guidance. The Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Commiee will hold an emergency virtual hearing on Monday of next week to hear from public health and school safety experts on the importance of universal masking as one component of a broader mitigation strategy. We hope that you and the entire State Board of Education will follow that discussion and provide the Commiee any questions for that panel of experts that will help in reaching an expedient decision to promulgate temporary emergency statewide regulations. Sincerely, Senate President Bill Ferguson Chair Paul Pinsky Chair Guy Guzzone President Pro Tem Melony Griffith Chair Will Smith Chair Delores Kelley Vice Chair Jeff Waldstreicher Vice Chair Cheryl Kagan Vice Chair Brian Feldman Vice Chair Jim Rosapepe Majority Leader Nancy King Majority Whip Susan Lee Senator Malcolm Augustine Senator Pam Beidle Senator Joanne Benson Senator Jill P. Carter Senator Sarah Elfreth Senator Arthur Ellis Majority Caucus Vice Chair Antonio Hayes Senator Katie Fry Hester Senator Shelly Heleman Senator Michael Jackson Senate President Pro Tem Emeritus Katherine Klausmeier Senator Ben Kramer 2 Senator Clarence Lam Senator Cory McCray Senator Obie Paerson Senator Charles E. Sydnor III Senator Mary Washington Senator Chris West Senator Ron Young Majority Caucus Chair Craig Zucker 3.