Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Thursday that he will authorize all counties in the state to reopen schools for personal classes.
“That’s exactly the way our laws work, the elected and appointed school boards have the power to make those decisions,” Hogan told a news conference Thursday. “Some of those local school systems have asked for more guidance and more metrics. We will not order them to reopen and reopen schools, but we are going back to them and strongly recommend that since the numbers have improved dramatically, because many of them have made these decisions or started working on their plans, we we will provide incentives for people working to get plans to get children back to the classroom. ”
Hogan said he understands administrators are motivated by a desire to keep students safe, but added “it’s easier to say we will not be bringing children back for the rest of the year as opposed to sitting down and doing the hard work to try “To find out, how could we get kids back for safe instruction? It’s just a lot of hard work, and we’ll ask them to go back and do some more of that hard work.”
The governor noted that 16 Maryland school districts have said personal classes will resume at least part-time in the fall, while another eight have no plans for personal reopening. Hogan said the decision of the eight districts “makes no sense”, adding “we will go back and ask them to reconsider.”
He stressed the improvement in state numbers since plans were made to start the school year again with online classes, and said it would have to factor in the decision.
“There is a broad and overwhelming agreement that finding a way to safely return children to classrooms should be a priority. There is no substitute for personal instruction,” Hogan said.
The governor, who is often criticized President Trump
Donald John The Memo: Trump Uses Convention to Focus on Major States Conway Hots Trump as ‘Women’s Champion’ Former ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Star Trace Adkins Sings at GOP Congress MOREThe treatment of the coronavirus distinguished its position across schools reopening from the presidency.
“I still remember the president saying he would order all schools to open immediately … we do not have that power to tell school systems what to do,” he said.
Hogan added, however, that his administration intended to provide financial incentives for schools to open up for personal instruction.
“I think we’ll go back and put pressure on them … it’s not acceptable to say you’m just closing the rest of the year.”
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