Prince George’s County Public Schools CEO Monica Goldson has indicated that students will remain masked on school property and inside classrooms until COVID “no longer exists.”
What are the details?
According to WTOP-FM, Goldson has said that she isn’t “thinking about a maskless classroom.”
“The only classroom I’ve been thinking about is one where teaching and learning takes places from the time the kids walk in until the time they leave,” she said, WTOP reported. “The only off-ramp I want is the one where COVID no longer exists. I don’t think that that off-ramp will exist. I think this is how our life will be … and we’re showing that we’re adaptable and we can make whatever necessary changes so that we can keep our students learning and safe.”
Prince George’s County Public Schools in December went to all-virtual learning until Jan. 18 when the Maryland district’s 110,000 students returned to the classroom.
District leaders are now asking parents to voluntarily upload weekly COVID-19 test results for their children through February.
“Today was the first day where students and parents were back in schools after utilizing [tests],” Goldson added. “We had over 85,000 tests uploaded into our database and just a few students who tested positive. So as far as I’m concerned, that’s positive, because I never want those sick kids around other students and continue to infect them.”
A spokesperson for the district told Fox News on Wednesday that the district remains “hopeful” for a time when coronavirus no longer impacts learning.
“We remain hopeful for a time when COVID-19 is no longer an issue and does not impact our day-to-day operations. However, based on recent updates from health professionals including Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Fauci, we may never reach a point where there are no Coronavirus cases,” the spokesperson said. “PGCPS will continue to make health and safety decisions, including the wearing of masks, in collaboration with our County health partners and after review of CDC guidance. For now, the data tells us that continued mask-wearing in our schools and offices is necessary. Our mask requirement will remain in place.”
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks added that the masks in classrooms and across campuses are of utmost importance.
“The masks have been our best way of keeping all of us safe, and until and unless we hear otherwise from our health professionals, we’re going to continue to stay the course,” Alsobrooks said. “We’ll see what the science says, and we’ll follow it, and if the science says at some point it is safe for us to remove the mask we’ll do that, but otherwise, we’re in no hurry to do anything that jeopardizes the health of our students.”