Montgomery County backs off order on private school closures

Montgomery County’s health director has backed off an order calling for the closure of nonpublic schools for in-person instruction through Oct. 1, ending a back-and-forth between Maryland’s most-populous county and Gov. Larry Hogan over who gets to make the call on how private schools can operate during the Covid-19 pandemic. On Friday, the county said Health Officer Travis Gayles rescinded a directive made earlier in the week calling for the closure of private schools. That move came after…