No masks, fewer COVID-19 tests: Baltimore-area schools prepare for a new school year

The large cardboard boxes came one after another off the U-Haul truck. They were filled with 40,000 donated KN95 masks destined for teachers, staff and students in Baltimore City schools in preparation for the coming school year. “Masks are going to be a constant need, like composition books and pencils,” said Christina Duncan Evans, teacher chapter chair for the Baltimore Teachers Union, who helped unload the boxes. “They’ll protect everyone from COVID, flu and other infectious diseases,” she said. “If they’re offered, a lot of teachers and students will wear them.” But in Baltimore and surrounding counties, schools won’t require any kind of masks, at least not to start the school year.