Facing a resurgence of the coronavirus, public schools in the suburbs of the nation’s capital decided in recent weeks that more than a million children would start the school year from home. On Friday, officials in Maryland’s most populous county said that private schools, including some of the nation’s most elite, had to join them. Larry Hogan, a Republican, abruptly overruled that directive this week, contending that Maryland’s private schools should be allowed to make their own reopening decisions. The governor staked out his position on the same day that a group of parents filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the county’s order, saying it discriminated against private and religious schools. Montgomery County officials said on Tuesday that they were reviewing the governor’s order to see whether it negated their directive.

Source: International New York Times August 05, 2020 09:00 UTC