Private Schools Not Allowed to Open In Person!!!

amother

Wine

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 6:18 pm

amother [ Khaki ] wrote:

No, it is not. It is its own district and not part of MD at all. It shares borders with Maryland and Virginia but is not part of either. Google it.

TA is county so we should be good there- Bnos is a concern for me too....

amother

Gray

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 8:00 pm

amother [ Orchid ] wrote:

This generated a 73 page thread in 2 days on a non-Jewish forum that I read: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jfo......page

A lot of people are unhappy, not just the Jewish community.

I read the thread. It seems like they feel public schools should be closed too but that the governt doesn't care about poor kids and teachers in public school.

zohar

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 8:20 pm

amother [ Gray ] wrote:

I read the thread. It seems like they feel public schools should be closed too but that the governt doesn't care about poor kids and teachers in public school.

Am I understanding correctly? It's it only the private schools that are being closed?! That's such a chutzpah! I'm guessing that this may be an attempt to push parents to pull their lots out of private schools and send to public.

amother

Olive

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 8:21 pm

What a disgusting display of government overreach! They should not be dictating to private schools like this. I hope the private schools in Montgomery County band together and SUE THE COUNTY. I am not in Maryland and my state is allowing districts and private schools to make their own decisions. The yeshivas in my area have all decided to open. I am so sorry for the Silver Spring community and absolutely disgusted on your behalf. I hope Montgomery County can be legally forced to back down (seems like the governer agrees the county is wrong).

amother

Dodgerblue

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 8:23 pm

zohar wrote:

No, you misread, the public schools are closed. Additionally, now private schools in that one district are required to close as well.

(And the parents sending to these elite private schools would be horrified to have their kids attending public schools. Even though that county is one of the top in the country when it comes to ps. Because it's a very wealthy district.)

amother

Dodgerblue

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 8:26 pm

amother [ Olive ] wrote:

Lol the governor won't get involved. He specifically left it to local government to decide. That way he won't take the fall either way. He is a popular Republican in a Democratic state and he wants to keep it that way--he's gearing up for 2024.

amother

Powderblue

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 9:48 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

You're right. I meant to be clearer. Just giving an idea for someone who didn't know where Maryland was.
And while we're at it, it's Silver Spring, not Silver Springs.

Maryland and Virginia ceded land from their states to form DC. Then in 1847 Virginia took back the land it had ceded. So all of DC now comes from Maryland. So even though technically DC is not in Maryland, all of it is on Maryland land. So your original comment was really right on the mark.

amother

Powderblue

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 9:58 pm

amother [ Gray ] wrote:

I read the thread. It seems like they feel public schools should be closed too but that the governt doesn't care about poor kids and teachers in public school.

Montgomery County made the decision to have all public schools do distance learning through 2020. That is because Montgomery County is in some ways doing the worst in the state. They have the second highest number of cases and the highest number of deaths. They have a couple of zip codes that are doing the worst in the state. This is due mostly to the Hispanic communities in Montgomery County. The affluent whites aren't doing nearly as poorly but the Hispanic community includes a lot of essential workers who can't work from home, must ride the Metro and buses every day, etc. They are not only getting covid at a higher rate, they are also dying from it at a higher rate. The Hispanic community has a lot of kids in the public school system so opening public schools now would be almost sure to speed up transmission.

Maryland had a bad week last week and Montgomery County especially had a terrible week with many new cases. County health officials felt that having any schools opening in just a few weeks would fan the flames. So they have said that private schools should delay opening until October. It is just a month's delay.

amother

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 10:15 pm

amother [ Powderblue ] wrote:

And this is why private schools and parents should be empowered to make their own decisions. Each community is different. The schools fully plan to comply with CDC guidelines and they will shut down if there is a need.

amother

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 10:17 pm

amother [ Dodgerblue ] wrote:

Good summation. I don't think a petition will make a whit of a difference. I also don't see a lawsuit happening.

Discussions are in progress with a law firm, although I am not directly involved in the talks. A lawsuit may be in the works.

amother

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 10:32 pm

amother [ Dodgerblue ] wrote:

Hogan said he was putting the authority with local governments. And Karen Salmon concurred. So they actually do have the rights here, not the parents or schools. I doubt any lawsuit will be successful.

I am not a lawyer. A law firm is considering the case. My understanding is that while they do technically have the authority, it cannot simply be applied to force shut downs at whim. The issue here is that they did not even review the schools' plans. There needs to be a basis for shutting down private schools, or any other institutions/businesses for that matter. They did not issue guidance or metrics under which reopening would be acceptable. They simply said they will reevaluate at the end of Sept. So, while they do have the power to shut down, they have abused that power and applied it inappropriately. You cannot say that data necessitates this, when the AAP clearly states otherwise.

amother

Powderblue

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 10:32 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

More than a few frum Jews in Silver Spring have become lax about social distancing and wearing masks. Maybe that's also true of the families who send their kids to Georgetown Prep and Holton Arms. So the county may feel that the schools will not be able to carry out their plans to comply with CDC guidelines.

amother

Red

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 10:35 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I live in Silver Spring, MD and the county just issued a mandate requiring that PRIVATE schools begin school with distance learning only! If you feel that private schools should be allowed to open in-person, while following CDC guidelines, please help by signing the petition!

https://www.change.org/p/gover.....false

Not only is this a wonderful thread and discussion of the merits or lack there of in forcing private institutions to be closed-, but a great geography lesson as well.
Thanks for putting Silver Spring and Montgomery county on the imamother map. For further details Jewish areas of Montgomery county are broken down into different neighborhoods just like in Queens, we have our own version of KG, KGH, Forest Hills etc.

And just as an fyi- Maryland is not in Baltimore- Baltimore is in Maryland(heard that one from a girl who went to a shadchan in Brooklyn and told her she was wrong about the city and State she was from!).

oh and one more also true story- we have the same currency as NY( a girl came to visit cousins and wanted to know where to change her NY money).

Yep- we need our schools!!!

amother

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 10:39 pm

amother [ Powderblue ] wrote:

If the schools do not comply with the guidelines, that would be a valid reason to shut them down. That of course has not happened yet and is exactly the point. They closed the private schools simply because they wanted to. Had they cared about the CDC guidelines they would have taken the time to review the reopening plans and raise concerns if they had any.

amother

Pearl

Sun, Aug 02 2020, 10:42 pm

So ironic in some locales and states in which local schools decided in part based on pressure from teachers unions to shut down and not reopen in person their advocates are saying how great local can decide but then when locales decide to open suddenly thats not their prerogative. Oy.