Gov. Hogan Slams 'Whiny School Boards' Over Post-Labor Day Start

BETHESDA, MD — Educators and school board members who have complained about Gov. Larry Hogan's move to require public schools to start classes after Labor Day are "whiny," Maryland's governor told a Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting on Friday. The pushback from Hogan comes two weeks after the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education voted to seek a state waiver for an earlier start date.

Montgomery County Public Schools would start a week before the holiday next year if the district can obtain the waiver from the new mandate to begin classes after Labor Day, a move supported by parents, staff and students in the district. The decision is in contrast to polls that show a majority of Maryland residents support the later start date; a Goucher College poll showed 67 percent of Marylanders support Hogan's decision.

“You can have whiny people on school boards, it’s not going to change the fact that this is what’s going to happen,” Hogan said Friday, reports WTOP.

He added that board members who act against the will of most of their constituents will likely find themselves voted out of office.

The Montgomery County school board “strongly oppose any attempt to usurp local decision making around school calendars,” said Michael Durso, school board president, in a statement. “Prohibiting schools from starting before Labor Day ignores critical issues faced by schools and the potential negative instructional impact on students.”

On Oct. 10, the county’s board of education approved a resolution to adopt a 2017-2018 school calendar that would begin on Monday, Aug. 28, and would end on Thursday, June 14, 2018, if the waiver is granted. Labor Day falls on Sept. 4 in 2017.

The board has asked Superintendent Jack R. Smith to apply to the state board of education for a waiver of the start date before Labor Day. Governor Hogan’s executive order provided school districts with the option of applying for a waiver.

In August, 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 when he signed the order. "It's an economic and public safety issue."

Related:

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

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

The Board’s preferred school calendar option is based on 184 instructional days for students. The Board is continuing to explore options for implementing a school year calendar that would begin after Labor Day and end by June 15, 2018, in case the state does not approve the waiver.

Read the memo to the Board and see the proposed calendar (option 3A)

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.

»Patch file photo of Gov. Larry Hogan; video via YouTube