6 Executive Summary: 2022-2023 School Year: Ongoing Safe Return to In-Person Instruction & Continuity of Services Plan for Wicomico County Public Schools Wicomico County Public Schools is pleased to have returned almost all students to traditional in-person instruction in the classroom five days a week starting with the 2021-2022 school year, and has continued to have students in school throughout the 2022-2023 school year. This return plan for Wicomico County Public Schools provides an outline for the ongoing Safe Return to In-Person Instruction & Continuity of Services. The plan supports maximizing learning opportunities during in-school instruction while taking recommended health and safety measures to keep our students and staff healthy, safe and in school all year long. We are committed to developing, implementing and updating this return plan to ensure there are no obstacles to our students accessing educational opportunities while providing every student equitable access to educational rigor, resources, and support to maximize academic success and promote social and emotional well-being for all. This return plan will be reviewed and updated as needed and as required. The delivery of education has often been anything but traditional since March 2020, when all schools in the State of Maryland were ordered to close their doors due to the outbreak of COVID-19. There was an immediate transition to remote learning, lasting through the end of that school year. With the ongoing and unprecedented public health crisis facing Wicomico County Public Schools and all school systems across the nation, Wicomico created a comprehensive Recovery Plan for instruction for the 2020-2021 school year. That school year started with all students engaged in virtual learning, and eventually had hybrid learning, with some students in the classroom while other students were online. The 2021-2022 school year took place as planned and detailed in the August 2021 and February 2022 versions of the school system’s return plan, with almost all students and their teachers once again in the classroom together, five days a week. Wicomico’s goal was to have students and teachers in classrooms throughout the school year, and with thorough preparation and observance of CDC- and Maryland Department of Health-recommended health and cleaning protocols, that goal was fully realized. That has continued to be an overarching goal for the 2022-2023 school year, as stated in the August 2022 and February 2023 revisions to the return plan. In continuing to revise and update its return plan, Wicomico County Public Schools has taken into account the latest Operational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); guidance from the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and the U.S. Department of Education; and the Wicomico County Health Department. This Return Plan is in alignment with requirements published by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) as part of the guidelines for the American Rescue Plan Act Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ARP ESSER).
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