Longer Spring Break Approved In 2019-2020 School Calendar

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County students will have a 10-day spring break in the next school year, a victory for thousands of residents who urged the school board to extend spring break from six days to 10 days. The Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously voted to approve the 2019-2020 school year calendar Tuesday.

In the adopted calendar, the first and last school days are set for Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019, and Monday, June 15, 2020, respectively. This plan enables the county to squeeze 180 days of school into the window mandated by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's order that requires schools to open after Labor Day and close by June 15.

Spring break for the 2019-2020 school year is scheduled to start Saturday, April 4, 2020. and runs through Monday, April 13, 2020.

While board members were in favor of returning to a longer spring break, they emphasized that the community should not expect the changes to be permanent.

"I just don't want our community to have an unrealistic expectation that full, 10-day spring breaks are going to be in for the next several years because we have so many variables," the board’s president, Michael Durso, said. "But it’s obvious that I think this is the way to go and we hope we can sustain it."

Students will go on winter break on Monday, Dec. 23, 2019 and will return to school on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. According to the plan, two non-instructional days will be scheduled to coincide with Rosh Hashanah, which is on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, and Yom Kippur, which is Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019.

The adopted 2019-2020 school year calendar also contains possible make-up days. In case of inclement weather, or other emergency closings, Jan. 27, 2020, and April 6 and 7, 2020, are listed as possible make-up days.

"This year, MCPS took the unprecedented step to survey and communicate individually with every staff member and family in the MCPS community," the board said in a press statement. "The 2019–2020 calendar took into account results and feedback from this survey, as well as feedback from an internal MCPS work group and a focus group of external parties representing nine various community groups."

Image via Shutterstock

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