Following the Board of Education’s decision to make masks optional in Harford County Public Schools, we want to provide additional information to students, staff, parents, and guardians. 

• If staff or students are sick, please stay home. 

• All HCPS staff and students may attend after-school voluntary COVID-19 testing clinics. Voluntary COVID-19 screening testing is offered to HCPS staff and students who are asymptomatic and have not been identified as a close contact. Clinic sites include: 

  • Bel Air High School: Monday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 

  • Fallston High School: Tuesday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 

  • North Harford High School: Wednesday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 

  • Aberdeen High School: Thursday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 

If you have already registered with MAKO for a prior COVID-19 screening clinic, you do not need to complete the registration again before attending a voluntary clinic. 

If you have not registered with MAKO, please click here for registration information. 

• The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) say, “COVID-19 Community Levels are a new tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area. Take precautions to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 based on the COVID-19 Community Level in your area.” 

  • Based on the CDC’s latest update, the COVID-19 Community Level in Harford County is “low.” When community levels are “low,” CDC guidance says: 

    • Wear a mask based on your personal preference, informed by your personal level of risk. 

    • Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. 

    • Get tested if you have symptoms. 

Click here for more information about CDC COVID-19 Community Levels. 

• Click here for a video message following the Board of Education’s decision to make masks optional in HCPS. A big “thank you” to Ms. Abbott’s 5th graders at Ring Factory Elementary School who star in the video! #HCPSuperStars 

Tonight, February 28, 2022, at 6:51 p.m. during the Board Business meeting, the Board of Education of Harford County voted to lift the mask mandate in all Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) school buildings and facilities, making masks optional for students, staff, and visitors who wish to wear them. The change will take effect tomorrow, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. This comes after conversations with local health officials following the Maryland State Board of Education and the Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review (AELR) vote to lift the state mask mandate for schools.  

We want to be very clear: We support students and adults who choose to continue wearing masks in our school buildings and facilities. Now that the mask mandate has been lifted, this is a personal and family choice. Much like any other personal choice or difference of opinion, there will be no tolerance in our classrooms, schools, or offices, for anyone who wishes to intimidate, tease, or bully anyone else for their choice of whether to wear a mask or not. We ask all our adults to lead by example and all our families to have conversations with their students about this important issue. We must continue to exercise grace, patience, and flexibility with one another.  

On February 25, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) amended its federal mask order to no longer require that people wear masks on buses operated by school systems when they are carrying out school-system related business. As a result, effective tomorrow, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, masks will also be optional on school buses, when those buses are carrying out school-related functions. 

Following the current quarantine and isolation guidance set forth by the CDC, Maryland Department of Health (MDH), and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), students and staff who have completed their five-day isolation or quarantine period should continue to mask in all public settings, including schools, for five additional days.   Additionally, all students utilizing health suite services will need to utilize a mask during their visit based on guidance from the CDC. Masks will be provided in health suites as needed. 

Please click here for the HCPS Operational Status effective March 1, 2022. It is also available on hcps.org. 

We have all been anxious to get to this point. Again, with masks now optional in schools, HCPS facilities, and on school buses for school related activities, we ask everyone to continue to exercise diligence, caution, and kindness, as we traverse the road ahead, HCPStogether.