Talks continue in Baltimore County about the school district's new mask mandate for fall. It's unclear what will happen if teachers or students refuse to mask up.|| COVID-19 updates | Maryland's latest numbers | Get tested | Vaccine Info ||That's an important question and one the school may not be able to answer right now. It came up during a virtual board meeting, a meeting attended by just half of the members.The first day of school is less than a month away for Baltimore County students who will be required to wear masks. The school board was not clear on whether there would be consequences for not masking up.Baltimore County Public School Superintendent Darryl Williams responded to the issue saying, "We still want to encourage our students to mask and if not, we will have a backup plan because the last thing we want to do is close schools because we want to push more in-person learning as we open up our schools."That's left the Teachers Association of Baltimore County with more questions on how the mask mandate will be enforced."I have reached out to BCPS leadership and asked for the unions to be a part of that conversation because it's going to affect our members most of all," Teachers Association of Baltimore County President Cindy Sexton said.The school system said it will continue to make sure buildings are cleaned and have adequate personal protective equipment. The district said it won't quarantine students exposed to a COVID-19 positive classmate as long as they're wearing a mask and sitting three feet apart. Student-athletes will not have to mask up while on the playing field, but will be required to on the sideline. The school system's new virtual learning program is no longer accepting applications for the fall, but the board said the decision on how to educate students sent home to quarantine will likely fall on the individual school.The Baltimore County Parents and Students Coalition issued a statement: "We appreciate the thorough presentation from BCPS staff regarding the policy change to universal masking for the fall opening of schools. This information would have been most effective if communicated in conjunction with that announcement last week. "The board members in attendance asked very thoughtful questions that reflect some of our concerns.""We look forward to further presentations to provide answers to the questions that remain after this session; specifically the concerns about children with special needs who have difficulty wearing masks, young children who are learning phonics and reading who need to see and hear their teacher and peers and athletes who compete and practice indoors.""We understand BCPS is following their health partners and the CDC but would still like to see clear metrics associated with the universal masking policy. Baltimore County is currently in the yellow zone of transmission which does not currently classify for universal masking. It was stated that by mid-August, Baltimore County will likely be in the higher orange zone and this would support the policy. Ms. Somerville stated that until Baltimore County returns to the blue zone, this practice will likely be in place. Are they following CDC guideline recommendations or making their own?"Meanwhile, the group is planning an unmask our kids rally next week at headquarters in Towson.