Maryland schools closed until May 15

By Jeannetyler Moodee Lockman
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer

The Maryland State Superintendent of Schools announced Friday that school closures will be extended through May 15 while state and local officials make plans for the rest of the academic year.

 “With regards to the remainder of the school year and the summer, we will use this time to examine every option, and continue to develop a long-term plan for recovery,” Karen Salmon said during a press conference with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.

Salmon stressed that the decision to extend the closures was made “after extensive consultation with the State Board of Education and leading public health experts in the states.” Maryland school students have been out of school for five weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Maryland’s 25 school districts have more than 889,000 students in grades Kindergarten through 12. There are about 1,450 public schools and nearly 60,000 public school teachers. Salmon said her team will use the time to decide what happens between May 15 and June 15, which ends the school year in most jurisdictions in Maryland.

Salmon said all school systems are required to submit learning plans that detail how they will provide learning opportunities to all students, including the homeless and those with academic needs.

School systems are being helped financially with an additional $207 million in funding through the federal CARES Act, she said. The money will be used to obtain additional devices and broadband capabilities for students.

Hogan, in noting this week as “the Week of the young child,” said he could relate to the anxiety and concerns of families with young children, bragging he had four young grandchildren of his own.

“This has really been the toughest time that many of us have ever been through, but it is perhaps most difficult for our young children who are trying to understand what’s happening in our state and in our country and in our world,” Hogan said.

Hogan opened his press conference with dire statistics, including 11,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Maryland and 21,000 cases in the Capital Region. He described the week as “the deadliest week to date” with 818 deaths, including 425 in Maryland.

The governor said that next week he will unveil details of the “Maryland Strong Roadmap to Recovery.”  He said this plan lays out the goals that need to be reached before the state reopens, such as expanding local testing capacity, increasing hospital surge capability, increasing the supply of protective gear, and ramping up contact tracing.

“We are beginning to see some hopeful and encouraging signs which have allowed us to begin laying the groundwork to reopen, to rebuild, and to recover as soon as it is safe to do so,” said Hogan.

Hogan announced that $8 million of Maryland’s COVID-19 Layoff Aversion Fund, a critical pillar in Maryland’s $175 million relief package, has been provided to 410 small businesses across the state. He said more than 9,000 Marylanders have been helped with keeping their jobs.

In addition, the governor said a $5 million fund has been created to provide incentives to businesses willing to manufacture personal protective equipment and other supplies to meet the current needs of the healthcare industry.