MOCO School Year Extended To Make Up For Snow Days

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Three school days were added to the Montgomery County Public Schools calendar this week to make up for snow days earlier in the year, Superintendent Monifa McKnight told parents in a community message Thursday.

The three days will be:

• April 1, originally scheduled as a professional development day. This will be an early release day for students, the district said.
• June 16
• June 17, which will be an early release day

The last two days are extensions of the original calendar, which was scheduled to have the last day of school on June 15, which has been changed from an early release day to a full school day.

"Traditional snow days remain valuable and are sometimes necessary," said McKnight in the letter. "In the unfortunate event we experience inclement weather requiring additional closures beyond this plan, MCPS may request a waiver from the state minimum of 180 school days. To be eligible for a waiver, school systems must demonstrate a good faith effort to make up for lost time using their designated make up days."

Maryland public schools are required to have 180 days of instruction according to state law. The district has initially scheduled 182 days of school, but removed one day the week of Thanksgiving due to expected low attendance and substitute teacher shortages. There were four snow days in January, meaning the district needs to make up three days of learning.

"While our mission is student learning, our first priority is the safety of our students and staff.," said McKnight. "MCPS will continue to closely monitor for severe weather and provide updates on any impact it may have on the school calendar."