Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Montgomery County School officials are struggling to come up with a calendar for the 2018-2019 school year that meets Gov. Larry Hogan’s new requirement that school start before Labor Day and end by June 15.
The school system was able to comply with the state mandate this school year, but there are a number of factors that are making it more difficult to do that for the next school year. Jewish holidays fall on weekdays in the next academic year. Schools need to close for election day. The last day classes can be held is June 15. Since that date falls on a Saturday for the next school year, instruction will have to end June 14.
The problem is made worse by the fact that the school system needs to factor snow days into the calendar and is not allowed to tack them onto the end of the year.
“We will have to make some tough decisions,” said school board member Patricia O’Neill.
The school system could solve the problem by cutting the number of days of instruction from 184 to 182, staying open on the Jewish holidays, cutting the number of professional development days for teachers and/or shortening the 10 day spring break.
O’Neill said many counties cut their spring breaks to accommodate the new rules this school year, but in it would be very difficult for the county to do that because high school kids use the time to visit colleges, and it’s a popular time for vacations, which are booked way in advance.
“Several years ago we had to open on Easter Monday. We had not very good attendance,” O’Neill said.
School officials plan to ask the state to allow them to extend the school year to June 22 to accommodate their needs.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Heather Curtis, WMAL)
