Reply to Emails reveal contempt by MoCo health dept for nonpublic schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Of note here is Gayles did not shut down public schools in the Fall (he did last Spring). It was MCPS BOE that voted to close. Now, he does have the authority to shut them down, but he didn't need to exercise that since MCPS already voted to do so.[/quote]

This is false.  Gayles did not shut down the schools last spring. He didn't have the authority.  The Governor closed the schools in March.  He left reopening to the county Boards of Education (which are elected) and expected there to be input from many stakeholders in the community. The whole point is that a decision of that magnitude needs to be made by elected officials that can be held accountable for their decision, not a single non-elected public health officer.  Montgomery County Board of Education made the decision not to re-open in the fall. Gayles never thought he had the authority to make that decision and only suddenly claimed such authority when it became clear that private schools were intending to open.  Prior to this whole debacle happening, the State had already made it clear in their Recovery Plan for schools how independent schools should reopen.  The section below is taken verbatim from the State's plan (printed in June of 2020):

[b]
Nonpublic Schools under COMAR 13A.09.09 (private pay) and Registered Church Exempt Schools[/b]
Memos to nonpublic schools approved under COMAR 13A.09.09 and registered church-exempt schools, dated March 19, 2020, 
indicated the recommendation for these schools to close. The memos stated that these schools are “governed and operated by 
private organizations. The Legal Authority of each nonpublic school is responsible for making the determination regarding its school 
closure as a result of COVID-19.” During the recovery phase from this pandemic, decisions regarding the operating status of each 
nonpublic school (for both nonpublic schools approved under COMAR 13A.09.09 and registered church-exempt schools) will continue 
to be made by the school’s Legal Authority. 
[/quote]

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