MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles issued a new order Wednesday evening to prohibit nonpublic schools from reopening until at least Oct. 1.
The new order rescinds and replaces the county's original order that was issued on Friday. "Nonpublic schools" were defined as any school in Montgomery County not affiliated with MCPS, including private schools, religious schools, and independent schools. Child care programs are excluded from the definition of nonpublic schools.
"Reemphasizing the need to protect the health and safety of Montgomery County residents as well as parents, students, teachers and staff from the spread of COVID-19, County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles today issued a new Health Officer Directive and Order that continued to direct nonpublic schools in Montgomery County to remain closed for in-person instruction until at least Oct. 1, 2020," a county statement said.
The order said Gayles found it necessary to act immediately to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health and safety of individuals in Montgomery County.
This comes after Gov. Larry Hogan issued an amended emergency order on Monday that would effectively ban counties from “blanket school closures” and allow private and parochial schools to have the power to keep schools open or move them online.
Under an order issued on April 5, local health departments continue to have the authority to close any individual facility deemed to be unsafe.
On Wednesday morning, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said there was no logic to Gov. Larry Hogan’s decision to file an executive order to override the county’s decision to keep in-person learning closed for all schools until October 1.
As for why the county’s decision was made in the first place, Gayles said it had to do with schools being forced to re-close across the country, as well as the county’s transmission rate.
“When you look at the CDC guidelines and web page in terms of metrics and guidelines for school reopening, they explicitly say one must also look at the jurisdictional and the area epidemiology and surveillance data to determine whether or not it's safe to move forward,” Gayles said. “We have made significant progress in Montgomery County in terms of moving to a point where we are seeing lower cases and sustained lower cases, sustained lower test positivity and sustained lower indicators across the board on our dashboard, but we have not achieved that here in our county."
The announcement from Gayles came just minutes after a rally was held outside the Montgomery County Executive Building by parents of private school students.
Karl Macmillan, who has four children who attend a religious school, was one of many people who held signs and chanted against the county order.
"I think it’s easier for private schools to open in a safe way," the father said. "A lot of private schools are smaller. A lot of private schools are able to socially distance in a way that public schools are not.”
Speakers at the rally claimed Montgomery County leadership was committing an abuse of power and overstepping its reach by closing down in-person learning at private schools.
For Jessica Brown, the closure orders showed unjust treatment to local private schools.
"Public schools had the right to open. They chose not to because they felt they couldn’t do it safely," she said. "Private schools were just shut down.”
The campaign against the county's handling of private school closures has spread online, with a Facebook group called "Open Montgomery County, MD Private Schools" attracting over 4,000 followers.
With Wednesday's developments fueling the private school supporters even more, Brown said that she and others would keep calling for change with county leaders.
"We need to keep pressure on," she said. "We need to say we’re standing up.”
RELATED: Watch Live: Open Montgomery County Private Schools group protesting the closing of private schools
In response to the county’s decision to keep nonpublic schools closed, ten parents and two schools, Avalon School and Brookewood School, filed a lawsuit alleging the county’s order is illegal and that the health officer exceeded his authority.
The lawsuit claims the order to keep schools closed for in-person learning until Oct. 1 unlawfully discriminates against religious and private schools.
“We've not achieved that in our region and that's important because as was pointed out by the county executive, particularly for private schools, we do pull students and staff from numerous other jurisdictions across the region and across the state," Gayles said.
Gayles said Wednesday that not all the responses have been negative to the county’s order. He said they have received positive feedback from parents, staff members, teachers, and students who thanked them for the decision to close.
In response to the governor’s executive order, Elrich said he was surprised by the announcement and said he didn’t think it was appropriate or supported by data.
“There is no logic you know a private school teacher, a private school student, a private school parent, a private school custodian, they are the same human beings who could be in public schools,” Elrich said. “The fact that he felt it necessary to do that, rather than let us continue to come up with what we think is the best and safest solutions for people is beyond me.”
Elrich said he had not spoken to the governor but had a call Wednesday afternoon with members of Hogan's staff.
