A just-released community message from Montgomery County Public Schools explains that all schools will reopen Jan. 3 as planned and only switch to virtual if individual schools have five percent or more unrelated students and staff members test positive during a 14-day period.
The five percent threshold is not an automatic goalpost that will force a school to close, according to the community message. Instead, a determination will be made at that time.
Montgomery County will provide at-home rapid test kids for students and staff during the next two weeks. Families are asked to administer the tests and report any positive results to MCPS. Details about the kits and when they will be distributed “will be provided next week,” according to the message.
All staff members will be given KN-95 masks during the week of Jan. 3, 2022.
MCPS continues ask everyone to take a COVID-19 test before returning to school “if possible.”
The school district plans to increase in-school testing for students without symptoms, focusing on schools with higher positive test rates. The district is not changing its quarantine guidelines. Anyone who tests positive needs to isolate for 10 days.
