Elrich: County is Happy to Provide More COVID-19 Testing for Schools

On Tuesday, Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education sent a letter to County Executive Marc Elrich as more than 1,000 students and teachers have had to quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19, one week into the academic year.

The school board wrote to Elrich asking for his direct involvement in supporting MCPS’ efforts to offer in person classes with public health measures.

More than 1,000 MCPS teachers and students are quarantining this week. On Tuesday @mocoboe sent the following letter to @MontCoExec @Marc_Elrich requesting more COVID-19 testing.

I spoke to Elrich this afternoon and he said the county is happy to provide more testing to schools. pic.twitter.com/mY4NbFnxcg

— Deirdre Byrne (@DeirdreByrne_) September 8, 2021

“It is imperative that we keep students in schools and avoid excessive quarantining that may disrupt the continuity of their education,” the School Board writes. “Under the current direction of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), excessive numbers of our students were quarantined during the first week of school. This could have been avoided with testing in schools.”

MCPS’ current quarantining policy says, “Unvaccinated MCPS students and staff who have been exposed to COVID-19 must quarantine for 10 days. Students and staff who are fully vaccinated (two weeks past their final dose) are exempt from quarantine unless they develop COVID-19 symptoms or test positive for COVID-19.”

The school board asks Elrich in the letter for 5 things:

1. to clarify, in writing, proper quarantining protocols;
2. offer in-school COVID-19 testings for health rooms;
3. provide more contact tracing support;
4. provide schools with rapid COVID-19 testing;
5. and provide a “test to stay” option for students who test negative for COVID-19.

MyMCM spoke to Elrich about this letter from the Board of Education and the County Executive said he would be happy to provide schools with more testing. Watch his full answer below:

About Deirdre Byrne

Deirdre Byrne is a social media coordinator for Montgomery Community Media. She can be reached at dbyrne@mymcmedia.org or on twitter at @DeirdreByrneMCM.

View all posts by Deirdre Byrne