2017 School Start Date Finalized For Montgomery County

ROCKVILLE, MD — After floating the possibility of seeking a state waiver on the first day of classes in fall 2017, Montgomery County Public Schools board members voted last week to start classes after the Labor Day holiday in the fall. In contrast to polls that show a majority of Maryland residents support Gov. Larry Hogan's move to require public schools to start classes after Labor Day, most county parents, teachers and students wanted the earlier start.

By law, Maryland students must be in school for 180 days of the year. The Board of Education recently adopted an updated calendar for the 2017–2018 school year. The school year will begin on September 5, 2017, and the last day of school is scheduled for Tuesday, June 12, 2018.

In December the board approved a calendar for the 2017–2018 school year, but later learned from the Maryland State Department of Education that school districts must conclude all possible instructional make-up days (for emergency and weather-related closings) by June 15.

The original calendar the board adopted in December had make-up days after June 15 and therefore failed to comply with the new direction from the state.

While Governor Hogan’s executive order provided school districts with the option of applying for a waiver, he later tightened the restrictions under which local school boards could apply for and be granted a waiver.

In August 2016, 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 has economic and public safety benefits.

Educators and school board members who have complained about the ordered later school start date are "whiny," Maryland's governor told a Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting on Oct. 21, 2016.

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, 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.

Related:

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

The updated calendar is based on 182 instructional days, which is two more than the minimum required by the state but two less than previous years. The calendar adopted by the bard for the 2017–2018 school year is now consistent with Hogan’s executive order that established a timeframe for the school year to begin no earlier than the Tuesday after Labor Day and to end no later than June 15.

Board members also approved a contingency plan that identifies dates that could be used as instructional days, if necessary, to make up school days missed because of emergency and weather-related closings. Two of these days are the first two days of the scheduled spring break, March 26 and 27, 2018. One day, January 26, 2018, would replace a professional development day. Additional contingency dates would extend the school year until June 15, 2018.

»See the 201-18 school 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.

»Photo from Shutterstock; video via YouTube