When is the last day of the year? Only MCPS knows

During the first week of February, a snowstorm in Maryland forced Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to close for an entire week. The snow and ice that resulted from the storm stayed packed onto the roads and sidewalks, making it unsafe for students and staff to make it to school.

According to state law, school districts have to be in school for 180 days in total. This school year, MCPS had 181 days built into the year, allowing for up to one day to be missed without any consequences. That was considered MCPS’s free snow day. But, because of the snow in February, the district missed more than one day of school. Maryland law makes it so that schools have to be open for class for 180 days and over 1000 hours in total before the school year is allowed to end. So if one of the requirements isn’t met, the year will grow longer to compensate.

Montgomery County applied for a waiver for the week schools had off. If the waiver had been accepted, the extra days students and staff missed would have been excused, and no extra days would have to be added to the end of the year. But the state rejected MCPS’s waiver, pushing the last day of school to June 26. They did this because the county is expected to make up the missed days in any way they can, so the waiver was rejected.

Because of this, a bill was brought up in the Maryland state legislature to change the law so that in other situations like this, districts would only have to meet one of the requirements, either days or hours. This law would only apply if there is a special circumstance, like snow or any other condition that would cause school days to be missed. This law is still actively being considered in the Maryland state legislature, with no confirmation that it has passed yet.

If the law does pass, the final day of the school year will be pushed back to June 18, because Montgomery County would have already surpassed the required hours students need to be in school. So, because of the special circumstances that occurred in early February, MCPS won’t be required to make up the days missed. But the law would only last for two years, up until 2028, since this is an emergency bill.  But that’s only if the law passes; The Blake Beat is unsure of the verdict at the moment, but will provide updates soon.