School Start Date: Montgomery County to Begin After Labor Day

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County Public Schools would start after the Labor Day holiday next year, board members decided Tuesday, giving up hopes to obtain a state waiver from the new mandate to begin classes after the holiday.

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 school year will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, and the last day of school will be no later than Friday, June 15, 2018, the county’s board of education voted. Last month, board members approved a start date of Aug. 28, 2017, but that hinged on receiving a waiver from the state board of education.

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

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

Professional days and make-up days for emergency or inclement weather school closings, along with other factors, are being studied by MCPS staff to determine how best to implement the instructional and operational aspects of the 2017–2018 school year in the required time frame. Staff members will bring one or more proposed calendars to the board for action at the Dec. 13 meeting.

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.

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