By Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The Maryland and Montgomery County Boards of Education are deciding whether to fight Gov. Larry Hogan’s executive order to start schools after Labor Day. When the governor first issued the order, the state BOE said it would grant waivers to school systems that didn’t want to start after Labor Day, but then the governor amended his order and added strict requirements for waivers.
The executive order is expected to be discussed when the county board meets Monday and the state board meets Tuesday.
The county board’s agenda includes going over the list of items members would like the general assembly to take up in its 2017 legislative session. Local control over school issues, including setting calendars, tops that lislt.
State Sen. Paul Pinsky thinks the legislature will consider taking up the issue of a state mandate to start schools after Labor Day but doesn’t know if it will actually wind up on the legislative agenda. He said the legislature voted against such a mandate three times in past years.
Montgomery County BOE President Michael Durso asked, “If the state legislature takes this on, and the governor vetoed it, is it veto proof?”
If legislative action isn’t taken on the issue, it could wind up in court. If the local jurisdictions ignore the order, the governor would be able to take them to court, or local boards of education or the state board could choose to take the governor to court.
“I just don’t think it’s healthy for us as a school board to be going to court if it could be avoided,” said Durso indicating this is not an option he would recommend.
He said his board won’t make any decisions about next steps until it finds out if the state board will challenge the order.
Pinsky said no decisions have been made by anyone yet about how to proceed, but Maryland BOE member Chester Finn and his colleagues are unhappy about the executive order. Pinsky suggested the board take the governor to court.
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