COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - A Maryland State School Board member has quit following Gov. Larry Hogan's executive order requiring schools to start after Labor Day.
Related: State education board VP resigns over governor's Labor Day mandate
Local news organizations report that University of Maryland professor James Gates resigned Tuesday, saying the order has the potential to damage students in Maryland. He also suggested that Hogan's order challenges the independence of the board.
Wednesday, the governor's office issued a statement thanking Gates for his service and wishing him luck for the future.
"Board members are free to their own opinions, misguided as they are, but it won't stop the governor from doing what the vast majority of Marylanders want to see done and what is clearly right," the statement reads.
Hogan signed the order in August, requiring all public schools to start classes after Labor Day and end classes by June 15. Hogan later amended the order, narrowing the conditions under which most school districts could get a waiver to be exempted from the mandate.
Board members had previously expressed concern over the order. Last week, Hogan called local school board officials who have raised concerns "whiny."
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