Montgomery Community Media

Leaders detailed updated COVID-19 quarantine guidance for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) during a virtual press conference Monday. The new guidance will take effect next Monday, Nov. 8, MCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. McKnight said. The Maryland departments of health and education released new K-12 childcare COVID-19 guidance Friday evening, she said. Unvaccinated students have otherwise […]

Montgomery County leaders are developing a COVID-19 test-to-stay program for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) with a goal to reduce quarantines, County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Earl Stoddard explained during a virtual media briefing Wednesday. The program will look similar to the one in Massachusetts, Stoddard wrote on Twitter. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary […]

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) updated its COVID-19 playbook with a new five-point plan, Interim Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight said during a virtual briefing in front of the county council Tuesday. McKnight designed the plan to enhance and strengthen COVID-19 measures and position MCPS to respond nimbly to the unexpected. The plan is as follows: […]

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has updated its COVID-19 quarantine guidelines. To summarize, in most situations, close contacts of symptomatic students will no longer be required to quarantine unless that student tests positive for COVID-19 or had a known exposure to someone with the virus, said Heather Dublinske, MCPS Coordinator for Student Welfare and Compliance. […]

The majority of the 20 members of the public speaking at Thursday’s Montgomery County Public Schools’ Board of Education meeting spoke out strongly against the current COVID-19 quarantine guidelines and urged schools to use rapid testing. Following Department Health and Human Services’ guidance, MCPS quarantines students who show one sign of the virus, including sneezing […]

In one week, 160,000 mask-wearing students return to Montgomery County’s 209 public schools, some for the first time in a year and a half. Another 2,300 students are enrolled in MCPS’ Virtual Academy. The school board will discuss details of the school start up Tuesday  at 1:15 p.m. An hour earlier, the meeting will be […]

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has recommended the county reinstate the COVID-19 indoor mask mandate if the jurisdiction reaches what the CDC defines as “substantial transmission”: 50 new cases per 100,000 residents for seven days, which is about 525 new cases over a seven-day period for the county. According to a county release Friday, “The […]

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) updated its guidelines for quarantine and isolation periods on April 29. In alignment with updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local officials, required isolation periods have now been reduced to 10 days, effective immediately. Previously, MCPS required individuals that tested positive for […]

After hearing from many constituents and following a March 14 rally by high school football players, members of the Montgomery County Council agreed Tuesday to relook at its decision to disallow contact football at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). The matter is tentatively scheduled for discussion on March 19. Last week, the council relaxed some […]

For the first time in nearly 160 years, Santa Claus won’t be coming to town… well, more specifically, he won’t be stopping by at Macy’s department stores, including the Bethesda, Gaithersburg and Wheaton locations. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Macy’s announced it will instead host a “virtual experience” -to preserve the safety of customers and […]