Harford County Public Schools Plans 4 Days A Week In-Person

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — Some students in Harford County returned to campuses Monday as the school system works toward a return to in-person learning. Next Harford County Public Schools plans to ramp up its in-person offerings, as long as coronavirus metrics permit.

The hybrid option that started March 1 enabled elementary students to return to Harford County Public Schools up to two days a week. The goal is for students to have the option of four days a week of in-person instruction by March 29.

Middle and high school students may return to in-person learning one day a week starting March 15. The target date for them to return to school four days a week is April 7.

"We feel confident we can meet these target dates if we don’t experience high rates of quarantines, isolations or outbreaks in our schools," Harford County Public Schools said in a statement Monday, March 1. "If a change to this schedule is necessary, we will communicate that with families as soon as possible."

Families and students who would like to continue with all-virtual learning may do so in all grade levels through the 2020-2021 school year, officials said. Elementary students who wish to remain asynchronous for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year may also do that.

Currently, Harford County Public Schools is planning a blended virtual program that would enable require they enroll in eLearning rather than their home school. Officials say more details will be released by the end of March.

Health Protocols In Place

The offering of in-person instruction in March comes as the rate of new coronavirus cases has slowed in Harford County.

"Our county has seen a decrease in cases and we will continue to monitor this information as we move forward through the school year," Harford County Public Schools reported Monday.

People must stay home if they have any one of these symptoms, according to Mary Nasuta, Harford County Public Schools supervisor of health services: cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and new loss of taste or smell.

If they have two of these symptoms, people also need to stay home: fever, chills, muscle aches, sore throat, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue and/or congestion/runny nose.

Officials said that if students or staff show symptoms of the coronavirus while at school, Harford County Public Schools nurses can administer rapid antigen testing as long as guardians have given permission. It is a nasal swab, according to Nasuta, who said people will wait for results in their car. If the test is negative, they will get a PCR test in the car. If it is positive, contact tracers will work to identify potential close contacts.

Testing will enable students to "get back into school and to stay in school," Nasuta said. "Really what we want to do is keep schools open ... [and] to decrease the amount of disruption in our day, [decrease] all of those quarantines that we were doing before."

Additional measures are in place to promote public health, such as requirements that students and staff wear face coverings, the installation of plexiglass barriers on desks and sanitization.

Nasuta and Risk Manager Katie Ridgway shared ways the school system is protecting students and staff while returning to in-person learning:

Public schools in Maryland closed March 16, 2020, after the state superintendent of schools ordered school buildings shut down for disinfecting once coronavirus began spreading.

Harford County Public Schools began a hybrid model in October that enabled some students to return. After about four weeks of in-person instruction, classes went virtual Nov. 13 due to coronavirus cases climbing outside the metrics set by the state for safe reopening.

According to the Maryland Department of Education's COVID-19 Guidance for Maryland Schools, school systems with a positivity rate greater than 5 percent and a daily new case rate of at least 15 per 100,000 may have limited or no in-person programs.

Harford County's coronavirus positivity rate is 4.4 percent and 11.52 cases per 100,000 as of data reported Monday by the Maryland Department of Health.

Officials said the Harford County Public Schools Continuity of Learning plan was updated to reflect updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

See Also:

• Many Maryland Schools Set To Reopen Monday, March 1
• HCPS Offers 2 Days Of In-Person Learning For Elementary Students
• HCPS Buys 33K Plexiglass Shields For Teachers, Students
• Public Schools Go Back Online After Virus Spike In Harford County