By Katie Bena and Nicola Staples, Staff Writers
With multiple states ending the mask mandate in schools, students at River Hill wondered what the future held for Howard County. Since September, it has been the norm to wear masks throughout the entire school day except when eating lunch. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan recently asked the Maryland State Department of Education to rescind its policy requiring face masks in school, due to improvements in COVID-19 metrics and the availability of vaccines. As of March 1, 2022, the mask mandate at all Howard County public schools has been lifted.
Opinions on lifting the mask mandate are clearly split, some finding themselves comfortable and ready for the mandate to be revoked, while others feel the mask mandate is still needed. Alyssa Cuyun shared, “I feel like it has been long enough with the mask and I am ready for the mandate to be lifted and I am comfortable with the decision.” Divya Kumar agreed, saying, “I understand the purpose of masks but it makes participating in band more difficult. We can’t play as loud with bell covers.” There are some positives to lifting the mandate and one of them is giving people the choice to not wear masks during band and sports.
Despite some positives to lifting the mandate, a portion of students are still weary of the virus. One junior shared, “even though cases have been low, I want to protect myself.” Vicky Cutroneo, Board of Education Chair, shared that “Any student, staff or visitor may choose to wear a mask, and should feel comfortable doing so.” HCPSS is working to ensure safety for all students and staff as this transition takes place.
A poll was also conducted to get a majority opinion of whether students would still wear a mask without the mandate (see chart below). Out of 590 students, 63.2% responded that they would still wear the mask and 36.8 % would not.Over half of the students polled agreed that they would still wear a mask even if it is not mandatory, which means that we will likely still find masks in school buildings. It will be interesting to see how students’ opinions change over the next couple months since the mask mandate has been lifted.
Although the decision to drop the mask requirement will give everyone the freedom to make their own choice, it is important to respect everyone’s decision and continue to be cautious.
