Emails reveal contempt by MoCo health dept for nonpublic schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the ongoing lawsuit that Gayles mentions?

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.483958/gov.uscourts.mdd.483958.11.0.pdf

County tried to get it dismissed, but failed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dr. Gayles’ view was that if public schools could not open, private schools should not be allowed either, on equity grounds. There was never any scientific justification for it, and months of experience now show the private schools were entirely correct in believing they could reopen safely.

He was, however, very successful in delaying and making it hard for private schools to reopen. He will pay no political price because there is a critical mass of people in the county who agree with that decision — if they can’t have it, nobody should have it.

And this attitude will be our downfall. It’s not private v public, it’s US Vs China.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dr. Gayles’ view was that if public schools could not open, private schools should not be allowed either, on equity grounds. There was never any scientific justification for it, and months of experience now show the private schools were entirely correct in believing they could reopen safely.

He was, however, very successful in delaying and making it hard for private schools to reopen. He will pay no political price because there is a critical mass of people in the county who agree with that decision — if they can’t have it, nobody should have it.

And this attitude will be our downfall. It’s not private v public, it’s US Vs China.

No. It’s not us vs them at all.

[Anonymous]

This is really disappointing. I had given Dr. Gayle's the benefit of the doubt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the ongoing lawsuit that Gayles mentions?

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.483958/gov.uscourts.mdd.483958.11.0.pdf

County tried to get it dismissed, but failed.

This suit was dropped once the schools were permitted to open. Is there a different suit he is referring to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the ongoing lawsuit that Gayles mentions?

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.483958/gov.uscourts.mdd.483958.11.0.pdf

County tried to get it dismissed, but failed.

This suit was dropped once the schools were permitted to open. Is there a different suit he is referring to?

This suit is still active. County tried to dismiss it as moot, but failed. The plaintiffs have not dropped the suit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the ongoing lawsuit that Gayles mentions?

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.483958/gov.uscourts.mdd.483958.11.0.pdf

County tried to get it dismissed, but failed.

This suit was dropped once the schools were permitted to open. Is there a different suit he is referring to?

This suit is still active. County tried to dismiss it as moot, but failed. The plaintiffs have not dropped the suit.

good. this is a classic issue capable of repitition, so it’s not moot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was political. That was when Trump was saying he wanted schools to open, and the Democrats stomped their feet and insisted they couldn’t. I’m a lifelong Democrat, but many went around the bend on this one. My kids go to a catholic school that’s been open all year, with not one case of in-school transmission. Gayles’ stand was about politics, that’s it.

Scientists.

Um, no. The scientists provided a list of mitigation measures. Schools that could follow the measures and were allowed to open did so with success. See all the parochial schools in the DMV.

Sorry, pp, but you have this wrong. Volunteers from our private school - parents who are doctors, nurses, work in public health and the federal government - dedicated much of their summer to working on these plans. The school made significant capital investments in ventilation, water stations, and other areas, hired a private testing company to test weekly...It was a HUGE effort. And then Gayle’s just said No, and I won’t read the plans? It was maddening. What’s else is MCPS just sat on their hands for months before dumping the job of preparing for distance learning on the school principals. If Gayle’s had deigned to read the plans, he may have been able to do some knowledge transfer to MCPS. Totally disgusted by the way MoCo handled the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was political. That was when Trump was saying he wanted schools to open, and the Democrats stomped their feet and insisted they couldn’t. I’m a lifelong Democrat, but many went around the bend on this one. My kids go to a catholic school that’s been open all year, with not one case of in-school transmission. Gayles’ stand was about politics, that’s it.

Scientists.

Um, no. The scientists provided a list of mitigation measures. Schools that could follow the measures and were allowed to open did so with success. See all the parochial schools in the DMV.

Sorry, pp, but you have this wrong. Volunteers from our private school - parents who are doctors, nurses, work in public health and the federal government - dedicated much of their summer to working on these plans. The school made significant capital investments in ventilation, water stations, and other areas, hired a private testing company to test weekly...It was a HUGE effort. And then Gayle’s just said No, and I won’t read the plans? It was maddening. What’s else is MCPS just sat on their hands for months before dumping the job of preparing for distance learning on the school principals. If Gayle’s had deigned to read the plans, he may have been able to do some knowledge transfer to MCPS. Totally disgusted by the way MoCo handled the schools.

They cannot just transfer the knowledge as the schools are set up very differently. And, there isn't enough money. Our public cannot afford things like tents for outdoor school and we are a low income school and the pta really struggles for any funding let alone to fundraise for a few dozen $4-6K tents. Many of the buildings don't have an HVAC system so we just got air purifiers. We don't have windows open. In our public they have a maybe 40 kids in one space looking at the pictures. That is a huge safety issue. We are in a pandemic. It amazes me how inflexible people are. Our school has handled DL well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gayles should step down or be fired immediately! He was wrong in his actions and in the unintelligent and inappropriate emails. Private schools opened and educated their students just fine. Not public schools - and this is his problem. He has no idea how to do his job and these email revelations should be the nail in his coffin. He is terrible at his job, divisive, and prejudiced. Time to Go!

He's not going to be "fired" and will not step down. You don't like his emails. Oh well.

You have low expectations for your government leaders.

Nope. Just a realist. No matter how much you scream, shout, cry, rage at the clouds, he is neither quitting nor getting fired. It. Is. Not. Going. To. Happen.

P.S. All the hysterical efforts to get school board members recalled in local districts aren't going to happen either. Welcome to adulthood.

I agree but you still seem to have low expectations. I'm not hankering for him to step down and I don't like his emails. Your attitude (welcome to adulthood and oh well.. you sound like you are 19 years old and in the wrong forum or have too much free time to be responding to people here.

You sound as naive as a high school student, and you appear to have plenty of free time to respond. Pot meet kettle.

Thanks for your opinion though. Noted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was political. That was when Trump was saying he wanted schools to open, and the Democrats stomped their feet and insisted they couldn’t. I’m a lifelong Democrat, but many went around the bend on this one. My kids go to a catholic school that’s been open all year, with not one case of in-school transmission. Gayles’ stand was about politics, that’s it.

Scientists.

Um, no. The scientists provided a list of mitigation measures. Schools that could follow the measures and were allowed to open did so with success. See all the parochial schools in the DMV.

Sorry, pp, but you have this wrong. Volunteers from our private school - parents who are doctors, nurses, work in public health and the federal government - dedicated much of their summer to working on these plans. The school made significant capital investments in ventilation, water stations, and other areas, hired a private testing company to test weekly...It was a HUGE effort. And then Gayle’s just said No, and I won’t read the plans? It was maddening. What’s else is MCPS just sat on their hands for months before dumping the job of preparing for distance learning on the school principals. If Gayle’s had deigned to read the plans, he may have been able to do some knowledge transfer to MCPS. Totally disgusted by the way MoCo handled the schools.

Sadly this is true. I was in awe in the work that was done to open our school. Many parents who had expertise volunteered their time for free. The transfer of knowledge to public schools would have helped thousands of kids. If we have learned anything in the pandemic it is that teachers unions are too powerful. I heard the amount they give to politicians and it’s crazy. Of course this affected things. Also many public school teachers wanted to go back in person so please do not drag them all into this. They are forced to go along with the union.

[Anonymous]

Gayles (and Elrich) were literally wrong at every turn, so no surprise by the reaction to anyone questioning his thinking or motives. I can't imagine being this bad at m job; guess that's why they are only at the County level of government. Pretty pathetic.

To take a page from our fearless leader...as my grandmother always used to say, "You can't fix stupid."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also think Dr. Gayles needs to realize that certainly for parochial schools that many families are not rich and get a lot of aid in order to send their kids to school. Some schools in the ADW ONLY serve underserved populations such as San Miguel, WJA, Don Bosco, etc. But, sure, paint all of those families with the same rich people brush that fits your narrative.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them. The fact no one on the council or Elrich spoke to this is also telling. Time to vote every last one of them out, and this is coming from a lifelong democrat.

100% Its times for all of them to go. If they are uninterested in understanding the county they "serve" then they should not being in the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the parts of the article that quote emails:


“The privileged class of the county is showing their behinds,” health officer Travis Gayles of Montgomery County, Maryland, wrote on Aug. 1, dismissing objections from parents, teachers, and principals upset at his blanket closure of all nonpublic schools. ...

A local orthodontist married to a public school teacher emailed Gayles Saturday afternoon, Aug. 1, with a request.

“I ask that your department of health visit Bullis," a private school in the county seeking to reopen. "Bullis has exceeded my expectations for the safety of my precious youngest child. ... At the very least could you please provide the specific criteria which you would need to see achieved in MoCo and the necessary protocols in the schools in order to provide the critical and essential in person learning.” Gayles forwarded the message to colleagues, commenting only, “The arrogance…”

Tiffany Ward, the Chief Equity Officer of the county, replied, “SMDH, totally unsurprised by this." Ward then invoked the local private school Holton Arms. "Want to let you know that Holton alums who are in the medical field are singing your praises and saying you made the right decision. Not sure what current parents are saying. But folks need to know they can’t buy their way out of the needed pandemic precautions!”

“Absolute arrogance and privilege,” added Deputy Health Officer James Bridgers to the email chain. “Imagine what you would do if your child was exposed? You mitigate risks by being overly cautious.” ...

On Saturday night, Aug. 1, Shantee Jackson, a specialist at the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, emailed colleagues a story from CNN about Gayles’s order.

“Thanks…but why are on e-mail on a Saturday night lol,” Gayles replied a minute later.

“It has been a long day and the privileged class of the county is showing their behinds as my grandmother would say," Gayles wrote. "We will continue to press ahead and do the work to keep our folks safe.”

I don't see anything wrong and untruthful from the emails. The privileged class was truly showing their behinds.

The bolded reflects a racist mindset and a formative years set in hostility in my opinion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the ongoing lawsuit that Gayles mentions?

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.483958/gov.uscourts.mdd.483958.11.0.pdf

County tried to get it dismissed, but failed.

This suit was dropped once the schools were permitted to open. Is there a different suit he is referring to?

Actually, the Court hasn't rules on the motions to dismiss yet. I suspect the judge is waiting for the school year to end and will then dismiss.

I read the motions and oppositions out of interest. County should definitely get out - Dr. Gayles is a state employee and no question the County can't close schools. Technically, the County took no action with respect to schools. Honestly, the opposition filed by plaintiffs was really weak - I was surprised. Its hard to imagine a judge letting the suit go forward.

So, only real issue is whether the claims against Dr. Gayles go forward. I don't think they will.

This suit is still active. County tried to dismiss it as moot, but failed. The plaintiffs have not dropped the suit.