Maryland Schools Shuffle Calendars to Meet Post Labor Day Start Date

As the school year begins, administrators draw up the calendar for the subsequent academic year. This one brings a new challenge. Gov. Larry Hogan signed an executive order this week mandating that schools in the state of Maryland begin the Tuesday after Labor Day and end by June 15.

By law, Maryland students must be in school for 180 days of the year.

Due to the number of snow days in recent years, some jurisdictions have tacked makeup days onto the end of the year. Others have built potential makeup days into spring break.

Harford County incorporates potential makeup days marked as such in its calendar; in 2014, Harford County Public Schools used three spring break days to account for days off from snow.

In response to Hogan's order, Anne Arundel County Public Schools issued a statement that it would be "mathematically impossible" to fit the required days of instruction into the calendar.

Worcester County, where Ocean City is located, already starts school after Labor Day. However, the school year ends June 16 for students there, which would not meet next year's executive order requiring ending by June 15.

Each local school board is responsible for setting its own calendar.

Related:

• Maryland Governor Orders No School Before Labor Day
• Starting After Labor Day Will Snarl School Calendar: AACPS

Photo licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License, by shownbyphotos.com © 2016 R2 Productions.