Starting Monday, April 27, 2020, teachers at all levels began documenting student attendance during Continuity of Learning using a point system based on student participation in learning activities each week. Students earning the required minimum number of points will be marked “Present” for the week; those earning fewer points will be marked “Absent.” Staff will monitor each student’s level of participation, and will reach out to families to provide additional support for students frequently marked “Absent.”

Parents/guardians who wish to withdraw a student during the 2019-2020 school year should email the school principal with the following information: your child’s name, date of birth, the name and address of the new school where your child is moving to, and the withdrawal date. Contact information for each school can be found online.

The Board of Education has transitioned to a hybrid Board meeting format, providing the public the opportunity to participate in public hearings virtually or in person. Community members need to select if they wish to speak in person or virtually when completing the registration to testify. Community members wishing to testify at public hearings may pre-register by telephone (410-313-7194 or 410-313-1584) or online (see below). Registration opens three weeks prior to a hearing and closes at 4:30 p.m. the last working day prior to a meeting.

The Board of Education is currently in a hybrid Board meeting format, providing the public the opportunity to participate in public forums virtually or in person.

The Howard County Board of Education is currently in a hybrid board meeting format, with some Board members and staff participating in person while others continue participating remotely.

Any time of year, HCPSS provides phone referral services for families with questions and concerns related to school matters. Parents may call the International Call Center and leave messages in their native language.

• Chinese: 410-313-5920
• Korean: 410-313-1592
• Spanish: 410-313-1591

Additional information in Spanish, Korean and Chinese can be found online.

The Maryland Recovery Plan for Education requires increased cleaning and disinfection for buses. For each route bus, the school system will provide one spray bottle of cleaning solution for use on high touch areas. Further description of the cleaning process outlined below: After each morning, noon, and afternoon route, the driver will clean high touch areas of the bus, following the manufacturer's instructions for the cleaning product being used. These include:

The directive to clean and disinfect schools was mandated by the State of Maryland, and HCPSS has ensured the products being used to clean and disinfect are not hazardous to our staff. HCPSS Operations are utilizing staff members from the offices of Custodial, Grounds and Maintenance clean and disinfect of the schools, in accordance with guidelines provided by the Howard County Health Department and Maryland State Department of Education.

To date, Custodial Services has successfully implemented and maintained daily cleaning and disinfection protocols to support small group instruction, student assessments and daycare programs. Additionally, to minimize the chance of infectious transmission, all custodial staff follow the HCPSS COVID-19 Work Practices guidelines, which emphasize hand washing, social distancing, wearing face coverings, and refraining from sharing equipment and tools. Staff will continue to uphold these enhanced cleaning and disinfection protocols as HCPSS transitions to a hybrid learning model. 

We appreciate the offers of help from our community. HCPSS and Bright Minds Foundation, the school system’s educational foundation, have launched an emergency Access to Learning Fund to raise money for critical education access supports for HCPSS students during the extended coronavirus school closure.