Maryland officially rescinds statewide mask mandate in schools

A Maryland legislative panel voted on Friday to officially rescind a statewide mask mandate at public schools, clearing the way for local school boards to implement their own policies the same day the federal government eased its mask guidance.

The bipartisan panel of lawmakers with the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review voted 17-1 to lift the mask mandate in schools, CBS Baltimore reported. One committee member was absent.

The vote comes just three days after the Maryland State Board of Education recommended lifting the masking requirement as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations drop across the country.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who had called on the board to drop the masking requirement, called the panel’s decision to revoke the school mask mandate on Friday an “important victory for students and parents.”

“Just two weeks after we called for action, the State Board of Education’s school mask policy has now been officially rescinded,” the governor wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday issued new guidelines recommending masks not be required in public settings — including in schools — in 70 percent of communities across the U.S.

Governors across the country, including Democrats, are slowly easing mask mandates as the pandemic appears to be receding.

In Maryland, the seven-day positivity rate was at 2.78 percent as of Thursday, while 95 percent of the adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.