Posted on 08/09/2020 5:14:12 AM PDT by karpov
The county health czar in Maryland's Montgomery County has withdrawn his blanket ban on in-person schooling for nonpublic schools, handing a major victory to parents and religious communities in the Washington suburb. Gov. Larry Hogan had repeatedly pushed back on the blanket bans, and on Friday afternoon, among improving numbers in the county and the state, the county health office seemed to surrender.
“County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles today announced that he has rescinded his health order that prohibited nonpublic schools from opening for in-person instruction until after Oct. 1, 2020,” the county stated in a press release. “The decision was made due to the new policy announced yesterday by the State Department of Health prohibiting the blanket closure of nonpublic schools.”
Gayles had issued his first ban during a Friday night news dump on July 31, citing the state of emergency declaration issued by Hogan. After a weekend of uproar from parents, school heads, and teachers at private and religious schools, Hogan modified his emergency declaration to nullify Gayles’s.
On Wednesday night, despite five days of dropping positivity rates and case numbers, Gayles returned fire, issuing a new order citing state law granting broad authority to counties in fighting infectious diseases.
Gayles’s legal and scientific grounding was extremely wobbly, and a challenge by independent Catholic schools and school parents was scheduled for Aug. 14.
Hogan’s health office responded to Gayles’s second order with a memorandum saying blanket bans conflict with state policy. “The State of Maryland’s position is that all schools, including public school systems and non-public schools, be provided with the individualized opportunity to determine how they are able to” safely reopen.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Is it a victory if you need to fight for inalienable right?
In these interesting times, a victory is a victory.
“Is it a victory if you need to fight for inalienable right?”
These days ‘rights’ are only what the government gives to you...so yes, to your question.
I’ve heard that the County is now slow-walking review and approval of individual school plans.
The school plans will have to include multi testing using Mrs. Hogan’s S. Korean testing kits. Governor Hogan and the Little wife need more people to use the S. Korean testing kits because the mandatory weekly testing in nursing homes isn’t getting the results to keep enriching S. Korea. Which is Mrs. Hogan’s home country. MD Governor Hogan had that 500,000 Korean test kit order imported in record time.
It was a beautiful thing to see. I know some of the people involved.
It was a beautiful thing to see. MoCo is next door and I know some of the people involved.
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