The three children of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were withdrawn from the posh Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School they have been attending for the last three years after parents and administrators at the school expressed concerns over the parents’ public refusal to abide by many COVID-19 safety guidelines.
The school, which is now conducting hybrid learning, has safety policies in place based on directions by the Centers for Disease Control that state that families should avoid gatherings off campus where social distancing is not practiced or masks are not used.
The parental compliance policy stated: “To help reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure at the School, the School asks all families to limit their attendance at large public or private gatherings, events, and other activities to those where social distancing can be maintained and guidance regarding masks is followed. Families and students should avoid hosting or attending large gatherings where proper social distancing measures are not feasible.”
Kushner and Ivanka, among others in Donald Trump‘s administration, have made headlines for failing to abide by social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines at work and during White House events. As a result, complaints and concerns were made for the couple to change their behavior.
“There was no secret about their behaviors because everyone could see them,” a parent from the school told CNN. “What [Kushner and Ivanka] did was just not okay.”
Two other sources said that the school ultimately confronted Kushner and Ivanka, independently of parent complaints. Two of the biggest reasons for the decision were the Sept. 26 nominating ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett and President Trump’s Oct. 2 diagnosis with COVID. According to the source, the school “tried to work something out with the family to negotiate terms that would keep the children at the school, but also ensure the protocols were not violated.” Eventually, it was Kushner and Ivanka who pulled their children from the school.
“Unnamed sources attacking a family’s decision about what is best for their kids in the middle of a pandemic is shameful,” said White House spokeswoman Carolina Hurley. “As is true for all families, schooling choices and education are deeply personal decisions and they owe no one, especially idle gossips seeking press attention, an explanation.”
