Western MD Schools Reopening In-Person

[Anonymous]

Washington County opens tomorrow for pre-K and some special ed, in-person:
https://www.smore.com/u3m2n

Allegany County opens 9/21 for special ed and students in technical training programs:
https://www.acpsmd.org/Page/3366

Garrett County hasn't announced a date for reopening, but they have a board meeting tonight so maybe they will decide then.

[Anonymous]

There is absolutely no reason Garrett Co can’t fully reopen - they have had 68 cases total since March (!) across 25,000 people in the county. All have been isolated.

But of course in the latest Superintendent’s message, they said it’s not “safe” to reopen, even though they meet all of the metrics. If I were a parent in Garrett I would be furious the kids weren’t back in school yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is absolutely no reason Garrett Co can’t fully reopen - they have had 68 cases total since March (!) across 25,000 people in the county. All have been isolated.

But of course in the latest Superintendent’s message, they said it’s not “safe” to reopen, even though they meet all of the metrics. If I were a parent in Garrett I would be furious the kids weren’t back in school yet.

Yeah especially given that the other counties nearby are opening (including WV and PA counties). I think Garrett is so under-resourced (poorest county in MD) that they just didn't have the staff to put together a full reopening plan yet.

[Anonymous]

The local numbers mean nothing, as long as people are traveling from places where the pandemic is more intense. Western MD does not exist in a vacuum.

This is what people cannot grasp. Sure, schools can open. But I hope no one will be surprised when cases go right back up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Washington County opens tomorrow for pre-K and some special ed, in-person:
https://www.smore.com/u3m2n

Allegany County opens 9/21 for special ed and students in technical training programs:
https://www.acpsmd.org/Page/3366

Garrett County hasn't announced a date for reopening, but they have a board meeting tonight so maybe they will decide then.

Carroll County is also bring some kids back for in person, starting with sped, I believe.

[Anonymous]

Great, let's keep it up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The local numbers mean nothing, as long as people are traveling from places where the pandemic is more intense. Western MD does not exist in a vacuum.

This is what people cannot grasp. Sure, schools can open. But I hope no one will be surprised when cases go right back up.

Yes true to some extent, but most people by and large spend the vast majority of time in and around the area that they live. So there is value in observing local numbers.

[Anonymous]

I'm from there originally. The cases have been primarily in nursing homes and the prison but they are afraid of the college kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The local numbers mean nothing, as long as people are traveling from places where the pandemic is more intense. Western MD does not exist in a vacuum.

This is what people cannot grasp. Sure, schools can open. But I hope no one will be surprised when cases go right back up.

Garrett Co has had no community spread. They had 6 cases in June. And after the busiest summer Deep Creek Lake probably ever had (occupancy was nearly sold out every week of the summer) they STILL only have 68 cases - since March. So they added 62 cases. When do you think it will be safe to reopen schools? When there are zero cases for one year?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The local numbers mean nothing, as long as people are traveling from places where the pandemic is more intense. Western MD does not exist in a vacuum.

This is what people cannot grasp. Sure, schools can open. But I hope no one will be surprised when cases go right back up.

But it sort of does. People have been saying "oh wait until it spreads to rural areas" since March, and it hasn't happened. It's been 6 months.

I think these areas are less likely to have a spread by design. Those counties are fairly isolated. The nearest major city if you live in Garrett County is Pittsburgh and it's 2 hours away. Same with the nearest airport. People who live there aren't working in DC or Baltimore -- it's just too far.

Then add in that it's more rural and people are more spread out. You have fewer people living in cramped apartment buildings. If you look in Montgomery County, most of the non-nursing breakouts are in areas with a high population density and close living conditions, like Silver Spring, and not in Boyds or Mt Airy (data by zipcode is on MD's website).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The local numbers mean nothing, as long as people are traveling from places where the pandemic is more intense. Western MD does not exist in a vacuum.

This is what people cannot grasp. Sure, schools can open. But I hope no one will be surprised when cases go right back up.

But it sort of does. People have been saying "oh wait until it spreads to rural areas" since March, and it hasn't happened. It's been 6 months.

I think these areas are less likely to have a spread by design. Those counties are fairly isolated. The nearest major city if you live in Garrett County is Pittsburgh and it's 2 hours away. Same with the nearest airport. People who live there aren't working in DC or Baltimore -- it's just too far.

Then add in that it's more rural and people are more spread out. You have fewer people living in cramped apartment buildings. If you look in Montgomery County, most of the non-nursing breakouts are in areas with a high population density and close living conditions, like Silver Spring, and not in Boyds or Mt Airy (data by zipcode is on MD's website).

Anne Arundel County is similar - the zip codes where there are only single family homes that are more spread out have many fewer cases (Crownsville, Davidsonville, Harwood, etc) and the higher density zip codes with apartment buildings (Annapolis 21403, for example) have many more cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Washington County opens tomorrow for pre-K and some special ed, in-person:
https://www.smore.com/u3m2n

Allegany County opens 9/21 for special ed and students in technical training programs:
https://www.acpsmd.org/Page/3366

Garrett County hasn't announced a date for reopening, but they have a board meeting tonight so maybe they will decide then.

Carroll County is also bring some kids back for in person, starting with sped, I believe.

I think Talbot brought back some kids as well.

[Anonymous]

Washington County Schools had a BOE meeting tonight and confirmed they will reopen schools tomorrow for pre-K, ESL, and special ed students:
https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/special/coronavirus/wcps-superintendent-wednesday-will-be-our-second-first-day-of-the-new-year/article_c1278714-f9a1-569a-94d4-d9459065ab96.html

[Anonymous]

They are in a rural area, with much smaller schools and a different population.

[Anonymous]

I am from the area. Particularly in Garrett County, there is no high-speed internet and a significant portion of students don't have access to online school.

Allegany County is only bringing back the career center students (hands-on training) and the significantly special ed in a select few schools.

The schools there are small to begin with. I graduated from a school grade 7-12 that had around 700 kids total.