Draft 2025-2026 School Year Calendar - Four Options. Final Board of Ed vote on December 11th

MCPS has released a memo for the draft school calendar for the next school year, 2025-2026. There are four draft calendar scenarios shown in the memo.  According to the memo, there can be public comment. The Board will vote on the final calendar at their December 11, 2025 business meeting.

Draft Sch Yr Calendar 2026-2027 251016 by freestategal

MCPS School Year Calendar 2026-2027 Survey #1

MCPS staff (I believe there is a calendar committee) has provided options for the calendar for the next school year. Please complete the survey.

Please limit to one response per person.  This initial survey will close on September 30, 2025.

Link to survey and survey information is here.  

How long should winter break be? Montgomery, Arlington schools working on new calendars

School officials in Montgomery County, Maryland, and Arlington, Virginia, are in the process of developing calendars for the next school year as some parents across the D.C. area say current calendars include too many days off.

Dana Edwards, chief of district operations in Montgomery County, said at a meeting this week that in weighing calendar options for 2023-24, there’s more to think about than when the first and last days of school should be...

How long should winter break be? Montgomery, Arlington schools working on new calendars - WTOP News

Hogan then declared, “None of them [school board members] should be re-elected.”

Approximately 150 people gathered Sunday evening to thank Gov. Larry Hogan for his support of the Jewish community in an event sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.

Following his remarks at Beth Sholom Congregation in Potomac, dozens of people lined up to thank him for allocating money to area Jewish agencies, strengthening economic ties between Maryland and Israel, opposing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and supporting funds for scholarships to private schools.

But when a few people told Hogan they were disappointed he had moved up the starting date for public schools until after Labor Day, thereby causing County school officials to rework their calendar and possibly eliminate days off for Jewish holidays, Hogan’s demeanor changed.

“I’m outraged by the Montgomery County schools making the suggestion,” he said. “That’s nonsense.”

Hogan then declared, “None of them [school board members] should be re-elected.”

There are still 180 school days on the calendar, he said, noting it would be preferable for members of the school board to look at the nine teacher workshop days and “get rid of two of the nine days” instead of eliminating days off for religious holidays.

Following the one-hour event, Hogan said he believed he had a good relationship with the County...

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/news/local/item/5907-gov-hogan-appears-at-jcrc-event

Anne Arundel Co. Schools Set To Go Along With Hogan Orders

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education next week is set to give its approval to a school calendar that complies with Gov. Larry Hogan's recently executive orders.

Students will start their next school year on Sept. 5, 2017, the day after Labor Day, and will wrap up on June 15, 2018, system officials said in a release. June 15 is the latest the school year can end without seeking a waiver under Hogan's executive orders.

Something had to give, however. Instead of a week, spring break is reduced to just a few days (March 29 to April 2), and only three days are built in for inclement weather (down from five). If the system needs a fourth day, officials say they'll seek a waiver to open on Easter Monday, when state law requires them to be closed.

Anne Arundel County is the second to release a calendar fully compliant with Hogan's orders. The first was Carroll County.

http://www.wbal.com/article/199278/3/anne-arundel-co-schools-set-to-go-along-with-hogan-orders

WTOP: MD Sen. Pres. Miller says Legislature could have passed School Start Date Change

...Maryland Senate President Mike Miller said Governor Larry Hogan didn’t have to do an end around the legislature to change the school calendar.
“The general assembly didn’t push back on it,” Miller said. “We could have gotten it passed if the governor had had his act together.”
A bill mandating the change stalled in Annapolis even after a state task force recommended the change...

http://wtop.com/maryland/2016/10/md-senate-president-condemns-gov-hogans-way-highway-approach/

Governor says he won’t change executive order because of complaints by school boards

...“If the Montgomery County school board goes against 75 percent of the people in Montgomery County, then they probably won’t be elected to the school board next time,” Hogan said...

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/Web-2016/Hogan-Shrugs-Off-Post-Labor-Day-School-Start-Critics/

MCPS asks to start school earlier

The Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education is asking Gov. Larry Hogan (R) for a waiver to start classes before Labor Day next year.
On Monday, school board members directed the superintendent to request a waiver from the governor’s executive order.
If the waiver is approved, classes would begin Aug. 28, 2017, the Monday before Labor Day and the last day of school for students would be June 14, 2018, according to Board member Rebecca Smondrowski (District 2)...

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/newsx/local/item/4256-mcps-asks-to-start-school-earlier

MCPS Parents Split between calendar that started after Labor Day and the calendar the board supported.

Montgomery County’s school board voted to seek a waiver from Gov. Larry Hogan’s mandate that the school year begin after Labor Day, supporting Aug. 28 as the first day of classes.

The board on Monday unanimously backed a 2017-18 calendar that starts the school year a week before Labor Day, leaves spring break intact, builds in extra snow days and ends on June 14.

It also places a teacher work day on Sept. 1, when the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha may fall. This is the second year it has made such an accommodation, following years of requests for time off from Muslim community leaders...

...School district staff said community members had sent 320 recent emails on the topic, with views split between an option that started after Labor Day and the calendar the board supported...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-county-seeks-waiver-from-hogan-order-to-start-school-after-labor-day/2016/10/10/d60547ec-8f05-11e6-a6a3-d50061aa9fae_story.html

A majority of Maryland voters continue to support a post-Labor Day start for public schools

A majority of Maryland voters continue to support a post-Labor Day start for public schools, and they appear to not care that it came as the result of a controversial executive order mandating the change.
That’s the finding of a poll released Monday by the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College.
Roughly 68 percent of the 668 Marylanders asked said they support a longer summer that delays the start of schools in the state until after Labor Day. The latest finding is within the margin of error to a 2014 poll that found 71 percent of people favored the later start.
“Public opinion really hasn’t shifted,” said Mileah Kromer, a political science professor and director of the poll. “I just wonder politically if this is a battle that Democrats in the legislature who oppose this want to have? I know there’s going to be push back. It’s a tough narrative that the public wants it.”
But not all Democrats oppose the effort. Former Gov. Martin O’Malley signed a petition to change school start date...

http://thedailyrecord.com/2016/09/26/on-post-labor-day-school-start-voters-care-more-about-outcome/

Maryland attorney general: Hogan may have exceeded authority with order on school start

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan may have exceeded his authority by ordering public school systems to start after Labor Day, according to the state attorney general’s office, whose opinion was sought by Democratic lawmakers opposed to the Republican governor’s action.
“I can not say unequivocally that the Labor Day executive order exceeds the Governor’s authority, but I believe it likely that a reviewing court, if presented with the issue, would conclude that it does,” Adam D. Snyder, a lawyer in the office of Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D), wrote in a 24-page letter that was delivered Friday to state Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s County) and Del. Anne R. Kaiser (D-Montgomery).
Snyder also wrote that the General Assembly has the authority to pass legislation to override Hogan’s executive order...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/maryland-ag-hogan-may-have-exceeded-authority-with-order-on-school-start/2016/09/16/96a59b6a-7c27-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html?postshare=8071474059820223&tid=ss_tw#comments

MD Education Code: Required School Days and Holidays as of 8/31/2016

Md. EDUCATION Code Ann. § 7-103

Annotated Code of Maryland
Copyright 2016 by Matthew Bender and Company, Inc., a member of the LexisNexis Group
All rights reserved.
*** Statutes current through July 1, 2016 ***
EDUCATION  
DIVISION II.  ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION  
TITLE 7.  PUBLIC SCHOOLS  
SUBTITLE 1.  GENERAL PROVISIONS
Md. EDUCATION Code Ann. § 7-103  (2016)
§ 7-103. Required school days and holidays


   (a) Schools to be open for 180 days or 1,080 hours. -- Except as provided in subsections (b), (e), and (f) of this section, each public school under the jurisdiction of a county board:

   (1) (i) Shall be open for pupil attendance for at least 180 actual school days and a minimum of 1,080 school hours during a 10-month period in each school year; or

      (ii) If normal school attendance is prevented because of conditions described in subsection (b) of this section, shall be open for at least 1,080 hours during a 10-month period;

   (2) Shall be open for pupil attendance a minimum of 3 hours during each school day; and

   (3) May not be open on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays in order to meet the 180-day or 1,080-hour requirement of this subsection.

(b) Adjustments in school year. --

   (1) If a county board submits a written application to the State Board that describes a demonstrated effort by the county board to comply with subsection (a) of this section, the State Board may permit:

      (i) Adjustments in the length of the school year;

      (ii) Exceptions from the requirement that the school year be completed within a 10-month period;

      (iii) Adjustments in the length of the school day; and

      (iv) Schools to be open on holidays.

   (2) These adjustments may be granted only if normal school attendance is prevented because of:

      (i) Natural disaster;

      (ii) Civil disaster; or

      (iii) Severe weather conditions.

   (3) Education funding from State or local sources may not be reduced if there are less than 180 school days in any year because of an approved application under this subsection.

   (4) In case of emergency, the State Board may open schools on holidays.

(c) Holidays. --

   (1) The following days are public school holidays:

      (i) Thanksgiving Day and the day after;

      (ii) Christmas Eve and from then through January 1;

      (iii) Martin Luther King, Jr. Day;

      (iv) Presidents' Day;

      (v) The Friday before Easter and from then through the Monday after Easter;

      (vi) Memorial Day; and

      (vii) Primary and general election days.

   (2) If the federal and State observances of a holiday are on different days, the board of education of each county shall determine which date shall be the date of observance for the public schools within the county.

   (3) The public schools shall devote a part of the day to appropriate exercises for the following days:

      (i) Washington's Birthday;

      (ii) Lincoln's Birthday;

      (iii) Veterans' Day;

      (iv) Columbus Day;

      (v) Arbor Day; and

      (vi) Any other day of national significance.

   (4) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, the public schools, in the following counties, may remain open and in session on primary and general election days:

      (i) Calvert;

      (ii) Caroline;

      (iii) Dorchester;

      (iv) Kent;

      (v) Talbot; and

      (vi) Worcester.

(d) School terms. -- Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, the State Board shall divide the school year into the terms it considers appropriate.

(e) Year-round schools; pilot programs. --

   (1) The county boards of Allegany, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties, and the Board of School Commissioners of Baltimore City, may elect to operate one or more schools within the county or Baltimore City on a year-round basis, provided that the 180-day and the minimum hour requirements under this section are met.

   (2) Nothing in this section precludes a county board from conducting a year-round pilot study or program that is funded by the county board.

(f) Exclusions. -- Publicly funded prekindergarten programs are not subject to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 77, §§ 73-76; 1978, ch. 22, § 2; ch. 925; 1979, chs. 481, 517; 1980, ch. 147, § 2; ch. 220; 1982, ch. 120; 1990, ch. 202; 1994, chs. 108, 249; 1995, ch. 383; 1996, ch. 10, § 1; 1999, chs. 596, 597; 2000, ch. 293; 2002, ch. 288, § 2; 2005, ch. 25, § 1; 2010, chs. 298, 299; 2011, ch. 65; 2012, ch. 395.

Governor Larry Hogan Signs Executive Order to Start School after Labor Day

August 31, 2016

Joins with Comptroller Peter Franchot Supporting Post-Labor Day Start Date to Benefit Families, Students, Teachers, and the Economy 

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan today signed an Executive Order that will require Maryland’s public schools to start classes after Labor Day, beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. Citing the benefits of a post-Labor Day school start for families, students, teachers, and the economy, the governor made the announcement on the Ocean City Boardwalk, where he was joined by Comptroller Peter Franchot, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan, Senator James Mathias, Delegate Mary Beth Carozza, education advocates, and other longtime supporters of a post-Labor Day school start.

“Starting Maryland public schools after Labor Day is not just a family issue – it’s an economic and public safety issue that draws clear, strong, bipartisan support among an overwhelming majority of Marylanders,” said Governor Hogan. “Comptroller Franchot and I believe, and the people of Maryland strongly agree, that this Executive Order puts the best interests of Marylanders first, especially the well-being of our students. This action is long overdue, and it is simply the right thing to do.”

The Executive Order signed today will require that Maryland’s public schools begin after Labor Day, complete the 180 days that are required under state law, and adjourn by June 15, beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. The executive order does permit for a waiver to be applied for with the Maryland State Department of Education to be exempt from the post-Labor Day start date. For the 2017-2018 school year and beyond, local school systems will have to apply annually for a waiver based on compelling justification. Furthermore, the State Department of Education will establish procedures and standards for school districts and individual schools seeking special waivers to accommodate non-traditional schedules...

http://governor.maryland.gov/2016/08/31/governor-larry-hogan-signs-executive-order-to-start-school-after-labor-day/

New BOE Meeting

We are so lucky.

The Board of Education announced a new meeting for Monday, December 14 just to discuss the MCPS calendar!

The agenda is posted early.  Way to go, BOE.

But - no public comment?  How are all the good folks of Montgomery County Maryland going to provide public input?

Seems as if, once again, the Board of Education isn't following its own policies.  As a reminder, this is right from the MCPS web:

Public Comments at Board Meetings
Who Can Make a Public Comment?
The regular business meetings of the Board usually include a public comments period in which any citizen, group representative, parent, or student may make a statement regarding an item on a past, present or future Board open-session agenda, or a matter of general policy over which the Board has jurisdiction.
How Do I Sign Up to Make a Public Comment?
At most business meetings, 30 minutes are set aside for Public Comments from residents to encourage public participation. The first fifteen (15) speakers who contact the Board office by telephone on the Monday prior to the business meetings are granted three (3) minutes each to speak 

For those of us who have other obligations - really - who among us isn't working or waiting for a child to return from school at 2:30 in the afternoon, you can send in your comments to BOE@mcpsmd.org.  Better yet, call MCPS at (301) 279-3617.

And we had hoped that Josh Civin would help the BOE and Larry B. understand their responsibilities under Maryland law.  Even if the BOE does not consider this a "regular" business meeting, we think some opportunity for public comment is in order.