The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington on Feb. 21 will lift a masking requirement for students, staff and visitors to Catholic schools located in the five Maryland counties that comprise part of the archdiocese. However, the masking requirement for Catholic schools in the District of Columbia remains in place, per a directive earlier this week by the D.C. government.

The easing of the masking mandate in the Maryland Catholic schools was announced by Kelly Branaman, the archdiocese’s Secretary for Catholic Schools and Superintendent of Schools, in a Feb. 17 letter to parents and guardians.

“We have been meeting with school leaders to organize and prepare their communities. Depending on the needs of each school’s leaders to prepare, schools will transition between Feb. 21 and Feb. 28,” Branaman wrote to parents. “We appreciate and will fully support whatever decisions that parents make for their own children regarding whether to wear a face covering in school or not. Enforcement of this decision is between parent and child, not school personnel.”

Branaman said face coverings will be “voluntary and optional in jurisdictions where this is possible.”

Making compliance with the new masking policy voluntary “will enable our parents and staff to decide what they feel is right based upon their own situations,” she said in the letter. “This approach balances the desires of those parents, students, and staff who wish to continue to wear masks with those who do not, while still keeping our schools safe.”

Branaman noted that while students and parents can decide on whether or not to wear a mask in school, “CDC and local regulations still require that everyone using public transportation, including students who use public school buses, continue to wear face coverings.”

In Maryland, on Feb. 14, Gov. Larry Hogan announced that masking mandates will be lifted in state buildings beginning Feb. 22. That easing of masking requirements does not include public schools. The state’s Board of Education is expected to meet Feb. 22 to consider its masking mandate.

In the District of Columbia, students, staff and visitors to Catholic schools in the city will continue to be required to wear masks.

On Feb. 14, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the District will ease masking requirements beginning March 1. On that date, masks will not be required at churches, grocery stores, restaurants and bars and sports and entertainment venues. Masks, however, will still be required at schools, libraries, healthcare facilities and on public transportation.

“Catholic schools located in the District of Columbia remain subject to the District’s masking order,” Branaman wrote to parents and guardians. “As we receive additional updates regarding any change in status in the District, we will continue to share this information with our school communities.”

She added that The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is “advocating with city officials to make face coverings optional for our school families in the District.”

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has more than 25,500 students enrolled in 90 Catholic schools, from preschool through high school located in the District of Columbia and five Maryland counties: Montgomery, Prince George’s, Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s.

Since March 2020 – when the pandemic was first declared – Catholic schools implemented safety protocols and teaching strategies to ensure the wellbeing of students and staff. Those protocols included health screenings, following the masking mandates of the varied jurisdictions that comprise the archdiocese, limiting visitors to the schools and adopting different teaching methods such as hybrid and distance learning. After school campuses closed as a precaution in the spring of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Catholic schools in the archdiocese reopened for in-person learning that fall, while other schools offered virtual or hybrid classes. During the current 2021-22 school year, all Catholic schools in the archdiocese have reopened  for in-person learning.

“While masking has been one of the health and safety protocols that allowed our schools to stay open, experts have begun to acknowledge that masking children has its drawbacks,” Branaman wrote in her Feb. 17 letter. “We recognize that many parents and students have asked to ease measures such as mask requirements more quickly. Others say they would feel more comfortable maintaining precautions a while longer.”

Branaman said the archdiocese’s decision to modify its masking requirements was based on several factors:

• A growing consensus of experts locally and across the country have determined that it is now safe to eliminate mask mandates for schools.

• Localities with indoor mask mandates have begun to announce plans to lift those requirements in most indoor settings.

• Substantial numbers of people have been vaccinated, including younger children, and Catholic schools in Maryland and the District of Columbia are in one of the most highly vaccinated areas of the country. 

• Case numbers have also been steadily dropping locally over the past month in the wake of the delta and omicron variants.   

“The health and safety of the young people entrusted to our care, as well as that of our staff, are of the highest priority in the schools of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington,” Branaman said. “This has been no less true amid the COVID pandemic, during which the (archdiocese) has sought to carefully balance the interests of both student health and effective learning.”

The decision by The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington follows similar announcements by neighboring dioceses. The Archdiocese of Baltimore ended its masking mandate for Catholic schools on Feb. 13. The Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, following Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order, lifted its masking mandate in late January.

As of Feb. 16, 2022, more than 78.1 million U.S. residents have tested positive for the coronavirus since the since the pandemic was first declared in March 2020, resulting in 927,000 deaths. In Maryland, a total of 994, 577 cases of COVID-19 have resulted in 13,705 deaths. In the District of Columbia, a total of 133,495 cases of COVID-19 have resulted in 1,311 deaths.

Nationwide, new cases of the coronavirus have declined by more than 80 percent since an Omicron variant peak of the virus in January.

Over the past two weeks, the daily average number of COVID-19 cases in Maryland has dropped by 65 percent, and the number of hospitalizations due to the virus has decreased by 49 percent. In the District, average daily COVID-19 cases dropped by 46 percent, and hospitalizations due to the virus has dropped by 41 percent.

Branaman said that archdiocesan Catholic schools “will continue to monitor local conditions and implement prudent safeguards and mitigation strategies as we strive to provide safe, in-person instruction.”

“If a major spike in cases or a serious variant emerges, government authorities may reinstitute a face covering requirement. As we have done previously, we will consult with medical experts and public health officials for guidance,” Branaman wrote. “All archdiocesan schools will continue to adhere to applicable public health guidance for individuals who test positive for COVID-19 and those who have been exposed.”

(See complete text of Branaman’s letter here.)