1,000 quarantined in Montgomery County schools

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Approximately 1,000 students and staff are currently in quarantine at Montgomery County Public Schools, which faced a first week rife with challenges, according to the schools’ public information officer and a letter to the community from Superintendent Monifa McKnight.

Students had their first day back in classrooms on Monday. The district currently requires all students, teachers and staff to mask up, regardless of vaccination status, when entering school buildings and on buses. Employees of the district are also required to submit proof of their vaccination status or agree to submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.

The district has since updated its quarantine guidelines. The policies currently in place are outlined below. 

• Unvaccinated students who have been in close contact with an individual who is displaying any single symptom of COVID-19 will be sent home.

• Students who are sent home because they have been in close contact with an individual with symptoms may return if the individual with symptoms tests negative, or has an alternate diagnosis from a medical provider.

• In the absence of a negative COVID-19 test or alternate medical diagnosis…