Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan issued an order Monday that prevents the state's most populous county from forcing private schools to close this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hogan, a Republican, overrode a Montgomery County directive that said all non-public schools in the county must close until Oct. 1 as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect Americans' lives.
Hogan said in a statement, "Private and parochial schools deserve the same opportunity and flexibility to make reopening decisions based on public health guidelines. The blanket closure mandate imposed by Montgomery County was overly broad and inconsistent with the powers intended to be delegated to the county health officer."
Directly affected by Hogan's order is Barron Trump, the 14-year-old son of President Donald Trump who attends a private school in Potomac, Maryland, as noted by the Washington Times.
Maryland has seen more than 91,000 COVID-19 cases and upward of 3,500 deaths related to the disease, according to WorldoMeter.
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