Emails reveal contempt by MoCo health dept for nonpublic schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ah, yes, the Washington Examiner, always a citadel of unbiased good faith.

Can you dispute the article with facts? If someone posted "Ah, yes, the Washington Post, always a citadel of unbiased good faith." a person like you would blast the poster.

Opposite, in fact, of the big govt liberal rags and channels. Sorry you feel that way hater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a poorly written email minimizing the risks of covid. It about minimizing community spread and not just about deaths and hospitizlatiosn and we don't know those numbers as most schools did not have weekly testing and its impossible to guess how it may have spread within the community. Gayles was right to keep schools virtual.

Not following the science....fear porn/ratings/sheeple....teacher unions. Hope your kids survived the virtual, not all will or have.

[Anonymous]

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!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s just speaking the truth. That’s why everyone on this thread is upset. Why not acknowledge your privilege and then have a conversation?!

What privilege? I work hard to afford private for my kid. So? You made other choices. People that bash others using the tired “privileged” label sound like envious middle school children. Get over it. People are more successful then you.

Exactly and many schools have kids there via donations/charity based on income level. These are the lucky ones--imagine all those in MCPS not knowing they could get assistance and not be victimized by the decisions of a liberal local government and powerful teachers' union.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s just speaking the truth. That’s why everyone on this thread is upset. Why not acknowledge your privilege and then have a conversation?!

You're an idiot. He was wrong in his prejudiced efforts to attempt to keep non-public schools closed and he was wrong in his inappropriate emails. Time to go, bye bye.

Fascinating glimpse into your mind here. The goal was for privates to be closed just like publics were, which is prejudiced against non-public schools because . . . it's not what you wanted?

Here in the DMV, many schools were able to open safely by following CDC guidance on distancing, mask-wearing, cohosting, etc. They opened in September and have been open all year without in-school transmission. Gayles didn’t care about the science or the CDC guidelines, he just wanted all the schools closed so the public schools wouldn’t look bad for closing too. This was absolutely a political decision, not a public health one.

The fact that the position "keep all schools closed" turned out to be overly cautious vis a vis what was necessary to mitigate community spread (something brought up in the emails people are so horrified by - "You mitigate risks by being overly cautious") doesn't in any way show that it was *prejudiced* against non-public schools. It wasn't. Trying to get all schools to behave in the same way, even if it's not the way you prefer, is not prejudice.

Except it’s clear from what he wrote that he had great disdain for the private school community.

It's clear from what he wrote that he was irritated by them, sure. But being irritated by a group of people and then insisting they be treated the same as everyone else is still not prejudice. Words have meanings.

But he wasn't treating them the same. Other organizations that were able to operate safely under CDC guidelines were allowed to open; schools that were able to operate under CDC guidelines were not; they were treated differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I find most perplexing is he still refuses to admit he was wrong at all, despite, well, every respected health, science and education group eventually saying otherwise.

I don't send my kids to private school but that's really an arrogant, dismissive way to talk about citizens as a public servant. It's just classless and discounts their concerns about their children and the effects of long term distance learning and isolation. No Chief Public Health Officer should talk about people just trying to watch out for their kids like that.

I don't know how there can be trust and confidence in him after this--he is given enormous power with how much the council defers him.

Agree. "follow the science" not the teachers' unions!

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

Too bad the behinds that were not shown, were all the suffering children who had a poor virtual experience. Maybe you should show yours more!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s just speaking the truth. That’s why everyone on this thread is upset. Why not acknowledge your privilege and then have a conversation?!

What privilege? I work hard to afford private for my kid. So? You made other choices. People that bash others using the tired “privileged” label sound like envious middle school children. Get over it. People are more successful then you.

Exactly and many schools have kids there via donations/charity based on income level. These are the lucky ones--imagine all those in MCPS not knowing they could get assistance and not be victimized by the decisions of a liberal local government and powerful teachers' union.

DP.. I think it was fine for private schools to open, but what you stated above is sheer stupdity.

Imagine if every public school parent tried to get assistance to get their kid into private school. What would that look like? Maybe some parents did try, but the schools did not offer the assistance.

Your own post stinks of arrogance, as if you are smarter than a public school parent for using charity money to get your kid in private, or that you don't realize that this charity fund is not limitless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s just speaking the truth. That’s why everyone on this thread is upset. Why not acknowledge your privilege and then have a conversation?!

You're an idiot. He was wrong in his prejudiced efforts to attempt to keep non-public schools closed and he was wrong in his inappropriate emails. Time to go, bye bye.

Fascinating glimpse into your mind here. The goal was for privates to be closed just like publics were, which is prejudiced against non-public schools because . . . it's not what you wanted?

Here in the DMV, many schools were able to open safely by following CDC guidance on distancing, mask-wearing, cohosting, etc. They opened in September and have been open all year without in-school transmission. Gayles didn’t care about the science or the CDC guidelines, he just wanted all the schools closed so the public schools wouldn’t look bad for closing too. This was absolutely a political decision, not a public health one.

The fact that the position "keep all schools closed" turned out to be overly cautious vis a vis what was necessary to mitigate community spread (something brought up in the emails people are so horrified by - "You mitigate risks by being overly cautious") doesn't in any way show that it was *prejudiced* against non-public schools. It wasn't. Trying to get all schools to behave in the same way, even if it's not the way you prefer, is not prejudice.

Except it’s clear from what he wrote that he had great disdain for the private school community.

It's clear from what he wrote that he was irritated by them, sure. But being irritated by a group of people and then insisting they be treated the same as everyone else is still not prejudice. Words have meanings.

But he wasn't treating them the same. Other organizations that were able to operate safely under CDC guidelines were allowed to open; schools that were able to operate under CDC guidelines were not; they were treated differently.

His attempts were to treat all schools the same. He did not demonstrate prejudiced efforts to attempt to keep non-public schools closed. He wanted all schools to be closed, not just non-public schools. And if you're now trying to move the goalposts to say that he was prejudiced against schools as opposed to other organizations, then the whole "he didn't like private school parents" argument is completely meaningless. There was no prejudiced effort against private schools. There was no prejudiced effort against schools writ large. There was an overly cautious approach that some people disagreed with for good reasons, some for bad reasons, and some supported for good or bad reasons, but still: not prejudiced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everybody's an effin expert in hindsight.

Follow the Science. Private did. Teacher Unions not so much ....spread fear and perhaps cared little about the students they are paid to teach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s just speaking the truth. That’s why everyone on this thread is upset. Why not acknowledge your privilege and then have a conversation?!

You're an idiot. He was wrong in his prejudiced efforts to attempt to keep non-public schools closed and he was wrong in his inappropriate emails. Time to go, bye bye.

Fascinating glimpse into your mind here. The goal was for privates to be closed just like publics were, which is prejudiced against non-public schools because . . . it's not what you wanted?

Here in the DMV, many schools were able to open safely by following CDC guidance on distancing, mask-wearing, cohosting, etc. They opened in September and have been open all year without in-school transmission. Gayles didn’t care about the science or the CDC guidelines, he just wanted all the schools closed so the public schools wouldn’t look bad for closing too. This was absolutely a political decision, not a public health one.

The fact that the position "keep all schools closed" turned out to be overly cautious vis a vis what was necessary to mitigate community spread (something brought up in the emails people are so horrified by - "You mitigate risks by being overly cautious") doesn't in any way show that it was *prejudiced* against non-public schools. It wasn't. Trying to get all schools to behave in the same way, even if it's not the way you prefer, is not prejudice.

In theory, but when you realize a cucumber doesn't fit into a teacup and then mandate the gherkin may not go in the teacup either, not because there is a valid reason to keep the gherkin out of the teacup but because you don't want the cucumber to feel bad (and you want to spite the gherkin), then you are acting from a place of passion and prejudice, not reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s just speaking the truth. That’s why everyone on this thread is upset. Why not acknowledge your privilege and then have a conversation?!

You're an idiot. He was wrong in his prejudiced efforts to attempt to keep non-public schools closed and he was wrong in his inappropriate emails. Time to go, bye bye.

Fascinating glimpse into your mind here. The goal was for privates to be closed just like publics were, which is prejudiced against non-public schools because . . . it's not what you wanted?

Here in the DMV, many schools were able to open safely by following CDC guidance on distancing, mask-wearing, cohosting, etc. They opened in September and have been open all year without in-school transmission. Gayles didn’t care about the science or the CDC guidelines, he just wanted all the schools closed so the public schools wouldn’t look bad for closing too. This was absolutely a political decision, not a public health one.

The fact that the position "keep all schools closed" turned out to be overly cautious vis a vis what was necessary to mitigate community spread (something brought up in the emails people are so horrified by - "You mitigate risks by being overly cautious") doesn't in any way show that it was *prejudiced* against non-public schools. It wasn't. Trying to get all schools to behave in the same way, even if it's not the way you prefer, is not prejudice.

Except it’s clear from what he wrote that he had great disdain for the private school community.

It's clear from what he wrote that he was irritated by them, sure. But being irritated by a group of people and then insisting they be treated the same as everyone else is still not prejudice. Words have meanings.

But he wasn't treating them the same. Other organizations that were able to operate safely under CDC guidelines were allowed to open; schools that were able to operate under CDC guidelines were not; they were treated differently.

His attempts were to treat all schools the same. He did not demonstrate prejudiced efforts to attempt to keep non-public schools closed. He wanted all schools to be closed, not just non-public schools. And if you're now trying to move the goalposts to say that he was prejudiced against schools as opposed to other organizations, then the whole "he didn't like private school parents" argument is completely meaningless. There was no prejudiced effort against private schools. There was no prejudiced effort against schools writ large. There was an overly cautious approach that some people disagreed with for good reasons, some for bad reasons, and some supported for good or bad reasons, but still: not prejudiced.

You are really trying to twist things around there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s just speaking the truth. That’s why everyone on this thread is upset. Why not acknowledge your privilege and then have a conversation?!

What privilege? I work hard to afford private for my kid. So? You made other choices. People that bash others using the tired “privileged” label sound like envious middle school children. Get over it. People are more successful then you.

Exactly and many schools have kids there via donations/charity based on income level. These are the lucky ones--imagine all those in MCPS not knowing they could get assistance and not be victimized by the decisions of a liberal local government and powerful teachers' union.

DP.. I think it was fine for private schools to open, but what you stated above is sheer stupdity.

Imagine if every public school parent tried to get assistance to get their kid into private school. What would that look like? Maybe some parents did try, but the schools did not offer the assistance.

Your own post stinks of arrogance, as if you are smarter than a public school parent for using charity money to get your kid in private, or that you don't realize that this charity fund is not limitless.

I am a Catholic School teacher who volunteers after school to tutor new immigrants. Your union would not step on property for the same kids. Rude poster you are and very bitter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank God our private is in Anne Arundel, far away from these self-righteous ding dongs.

Amen to that! Nothing reassures me about our choice to move to the outer burbs than reading DCUM education boards.