Maryland School Start Date: Governor Orders No School Before Labor Day

Maryland schools will not start until after Labor Day beginning with the 2017–2018 academic year, state officials announced Wednesday during a press conference in Ocean City.

Gov. Larry Hogan signed an executive order requiring Maryland public schools to start classes after Labor Day and end their school year by June 15. The measure will take effect with the 2017-2018 academic year.

He said nearly 75 percent of Marylanders endorsed the plan, which he said had benefits on many fronts.

"This isn't just a family issue," Hogan said. "It's an economic and public safety issue."

Hogan said: "The safety of our citizens, especially our children, is an important priority for us. August is the second hottest month of the year here in Maryland. Later school starts would allow us to help ensure that students, particularly those in Baltimore County and Baltimore City, are kept out of hot un-air-conditioned classrooms. A later start date will even prevent Baltimore County, which has unfortunately failed to air-condition its schools, from losing so many days of school due to heat-related closures."

In Baltimore County, 37 schools do not have air conditioning. The school board there mandated closing those schools if the heat index hits 90 degrees by 11 a.m.

Other counties that have air conditioning in their schools would also be able to benefit, Hogan added, by reducing their utility costs.

Hogan said that there will not be any change in the amount of required instructional days. In the state of Maryland, that is 180 days.

There will be a waiver option for school systems that do not want to comply and can provide compelling justification for why they want to be exempted, administered through the state board of education, he said.

"This is long overdue and it is simply the right thing to do," Hogan said.

Comptroller Peter Franchot has said for years that changing the school year's start date would benefit businesses and families.

In 2013, he released a study from the Bureau of Revenue Estimates indicating that starting school after Labor Day would have annual economic impact of $74.3 million.

A later school start date will provide a "tremendous economic boost for our small businesses, restaurants and hotels," Franchot said Wednesday, speaking in Ocean City, one of Maryland's vacation destinations.

"Families want more time to spend with each other," he said. "They want the chance to enjoy those final days of summer the way they were meant to be enjoyed." He ticked off events like going to an Orioles game, visiting the Inner Harbor, relaxing at home or checking out the Maryland State Fair.

"There are 10,000 kids in Maryland who come from agriculture-related families," Franchot said, adding that beginning classes after Labor Day will give them the chance to compete in county fairs and the state fair.

Said Franchot: "We're doing this for Maryland families and for our state economy."

Still from video of Aug. 31 announcement from Gov. Larry Hogan/Facebook.