2 Minutes Tacked Onto High School Start Time

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The current calendar year for Howard County Public Schools has been adjusted to account for a four-hour deficit at the high school.

Following the Maryland Board of Education’s recent adjustments to the school year calendar, HCPSS met the 180 days and 1,170 hours required by the state for high schools to be open for students. Unfortunately, a two-hour delay on March 3 resulted in a one-hour deficit and a three-hour early dismissal on March 16 added three additional hours to that deficit.

To account for the four-hour total deficit in high school, the following adjustments are being made to the 2025-2026 school year calendar:

• Monday, June 8: Previously scheduled as a three-hour early dismissal, June 8 now will be a full day for all students.
• Beginning Monday, May 4, school will start for students at 7:48 a.m., two minutes earlier than the current 7:50 start time. This will add a total of 1 hour and 4 minutes to the school year for high schools. The bus pickup schedule will remain unimpacted, and middle and elementary schools will not have an extended student day.

"This solution results in the least amount of disruption and preserves the cultural and religious observances remaining in the 2025-2026 school year calendar. Additionally, following the earlier decision to open schools and offices on Monday, April 6, this solution makes no further change to spring break," the school district stated.

High school administrators will make any necessary adjustments to the school day schedule to account for the additional two minutes and communicate them to students, staff, and families. Students who wish to receive breakfast in the cafeteria before arriving at their first period class will still have time to do so.

Tuesday, June 16, through Thursday, June 18, will remain as three-hour early dismissals for students. Barring any additional emergency closings, the last day of school will be Thursday, June 18, school officials stated.

Updated HCPSS calendars are available online.