BREAKING: Every county school system in Maryland authorized to begin safely reopening, Gov. Hogan says
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Governor Larry Hogan announced on Wednesday that every single county school system in the state of Maryland is now fully authorized to begin safely reopening.
According to the governor, 16 county school systems have developed plans which include some form of in-person instruction this fall. This includes all counties on the Eastern Shore except Dorchester County.
Hogan says the authority and decision making on safe openings rest with county boards of education, but their decisions should be based on a new set of statewide metrics, which have been established by the Maryland Department of Health in collaboration with the Maryland Department of Education.
“There is a broad and overwhelming agreement that finding a way to begin safely returning children to classrooms must be a priority. There is no substitute for in-person instruction,” Hogan said. “Perhaps it was easier for a local school board to simply say they don’t want to open and to say they have developed no plans to safely reopen or to bring any children back in for any in classroom instruction for the rest of the calendar year but that is not acceptable.”
Dr. Karen Salmon says she is strongly encouraging local school systems to reevaluate their mode of instruction at the end of the first quarter.
In addition, the statewide COVID-19 positivity rate is now at 3.3%, which is down more than 87% since it peaked on April 17th. As of today, the state’s positivity rate has been under %5 for 63 consecutive days and under 4% for 19 consecutive days. The positivity rate among Marylanders under 35 has declined by 44% since July 23rd, down to 3.79%. For Marylanders 35 and older, the positivity rate has dropped to 2.97%.
Hospitalizations have also decreased by nearly 76% since they peaked at 1,711 17 days ago. In the last month alone, the state has seen a nearly 32% decline in ICU levels.
Governor Hogan says the state has added a total of 156,200 jobs in 90 days. The statewide unemployment rate has dropped to 7.6%, which is more than 25% better than the national unemployment rate, and the best in the region. This week, Maryland saw the lowest number of unemployment claims since the first week of the pandemic in early March.
We’re told the administration has committed $345 million in additional education funding through the federal CARES Act from K through 12 technology funding, Competitive Innovation Grants, tutoring and learning programs for at-risk students, and expanded broadband access for education.
