BALTIMORE (AP) — The Maryland State Board of Education is calling for all schools to reopen for in-person instruction five days a week this fall, according to a resolution approved Tuesday.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the board said students should be able to attend 180 days for the school year with a teacher in the classroom, but it offered school systems the option to seek an exception from the requirement..

State school board president Clarence Crawford said the resolution is not legally binding, but is a warning to school systems that state regulations requiring schools to be open for all students will be in effect next school year.

“We are trying to send a very clear signal to the school systems with as much lead time as possible to expect to be back in school,” Crawford said. “What we are saying is that status quo is not sufficient.”

Maryland has been slow to reopen its schools, prompting parents across the state to organize groups advocating school reopening. Only Oregon, California and Hawaii have a smaller percentage of students back in classrooms, according to Burbio, a company tracking school openings. In part, that is because large numbers of students still have not returned even after schools were reopened.

State school superintendent Karen Salmon said 42% of students are receiving in-person instruction, leaving about 512,000 learning from home.

Many school systems already are planning to go back to a normal schedule in the fall, said Cheryl Bost, preisdent of the Maryland State Education Association, the union representing the majority of the state’s teachers. She described the state board action as “coming out of left field” and questioned why the state would want to “strong arm” the districts instead of working to support them in helping get students back in the fall.

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