Problematic Weather Call Worries MCPS Families

On the night of December 4th, 2025, there was a troubling weather forecast. It was supposed to snow early the next morning in southern Montgomery County. Thousands of students stayed up, eagerly awaiting a possible delay or cancellation of school the next day. However, the morning of December 5th, an announcement was made.

MCPS (Montgomery County Public Schools) had sent out an email at 4:08 AM, making the community aware of a code green. Immediately following the announcement, it faced extensive backlash from both parents and students. As students were travelling to school, there were multiple accidents. Buses slipping into the backs of cars, students hitting staff members, parents, and each other, and countless falls from students who walk to school. 

“It’s probably the worst call I’ve seen made in my over 20 years of teaching,” Mr. Eising, one of the Blake Music Directors, told TBB. As the day continued, students were hopeful of a possible early release, considering MCPS had taken those steps in similar situations. However, nothing came. That same Code Green from 4 a.m. persisted all day, even though counties bordering Montgomery, such as Prince George’s, were closing around 1 hour before their previously announced two-hour delay was scheduled to end. 

Following the multiple incidents and public outcry, MCPS released two emails, one to parents and one to students. The tone of the emails sent out proceeded to offend many parents and students. The parent-sent email, while slightly less offensive, still felt like a slap in the face. 

The message read, “Today, we even heard from many in our community about exactly what was happening in real time right in many neighborhoods. All of this added to helping us make our decision to open on time.” These two sentences, specifically to members of the school system who experienced accidents that morning, could not have sounded any worse. People were crashing, leaving sometimes thousands of dollars in damage, and MCPS still makes the attempt to tell families they made the correct decision. 

In the student email, MCPS said, “Everyone loves a snow day and so do we,” and “keep hats, gloves, and warm coats ready.” To students who had issues going to school that morning, a sly reminder that it’ll be cold definitely made the already bad situation worse. 

For the county that consistently preaches student safety and supposedly takes countless measures to provide that safety, this schedule blunder can seem catastrophic.

On Tuesday, December 2nd, MCPS had a 2-hour delay due to forecasted snow that turned out to be just rain. If we can have delays for rain, why can’t we have delays for real snow? Considering that a delay still counts as a full day, there is almost no harm in giving students and MCPS leaders time to decipher the safety of opening on time.