MCPS updated calendar is insane

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How far was the calendar pushed back when we had the blizzard during the 2015-16 year?

We had more than one snow day built into the calendar back then. That might also have been the year that they clawed back part of spring break.

They went through June 20th, instead of June 17th, which was one extra day, plus the four days that were built in then, and a one day waiver.

Sources
https://bethesdamagazine.com/2016/01/28/montgomery-county-public-schools-closed-again-friday/
https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2016/04/montgomery-co-school-year-extended-by-one-day/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How far was the calendar pushed back when we had the blizzard during the 2015-16 year?

We had more than one snow day built into the calendar back then. That might also have been the year that they clawed back part of spring break.

In 2015-16, MCPS had six closures but had four extra days built in, so had to make up two. But they got a waiver for one of them and only had to extend the year by one day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How far was the calendar pushed back when we had the blizzard during the 2015-16 year?

We had more than one snow day built into the calendar back then. That might also have been the year that they clawed back part of spring break.

In 2015-16, MCPS had six closures but had four extra days built in, so had to make up two. But they got a waiver for one of them and only had to extend the year by one day.

Whereas now, we have 1 snow day in the calendar year, and 3 makeup days that MCPS puts in, but refuses to use. Why are they so incompetent? Thousands of school districts deal with weather emergencies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And if we get a few flakes Sunday, are they going to close Monday? What happens then?

Probably turn the last two half days into full days and hope nobody cares

You can't do that. It's not based on hours, it's days. They will extend the school year another half day. And then we have to hope there won't be any more snow days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would June 23rd be off, if we have to go until the 25th?

State primary elections and county elections. A large number of schools are used as polling stations so they could not have students

This is maybe the dumbest part of this. The polling stations are in the gym; just cancel gym classes that day. That's what happened when I was a kid, we never had off for election day.

You're ok with 100s of adult strangers entering the building all day with kids in the building? That's a first for me

Every gym has a separate entrance area and internal doors guarding the rest of the school. Like be real

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would June 23rd be off, if we have to go until the 25th?

State primary elections and county elections. A large number of schools are used as polling stations so they could not have students

This is maybe the dumbest part of this. The polling stations are in the gym; just cancel gym classes that day. That's what happened when I was a kid, we never had off for election day.

You're ok with 100s of adult strangers entering the building all day with kids in the building? That's a first for me

Every gym has a separate entrance area and internal doors guarding the rest of the school. Like be real

Again you are ok with unvetted strangers having access through a side door entrance with no sign in log or vetting process? You are aware that registered sex offenders still often have voting rights and you are inviting them into our elementary schools.

Crazy to see how this board went from needing to turn our schools into fortified secure locations one week and the next there are people advocating for open access to the building because closing school for one day is “inconvenient”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who wants to email state reps, here is the info:
Official Bill Number: HB1084 (2026)
Title: Montgomery County – County Board of Education – School Operation Requirements
Summary: Authorizes Montgomery County to meet either the minimum school day count or the minimum instructional hours requirement.

[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>

Why would we do this? This is NOT a state issues. This is a MCPS issue and it has been for decades. If MCPS is not using the 3 make-up days and the state allowed President's Day to be used and we also didn't use that day or Tuesday - what else should the state do? Just allow MCPS to continue to be an absolute train wreck and go to school less days than all of the other counties?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would June 23rd be off, if we have to go until the 25th?

State primary elections and county elections. A large number of schools are used as polling stations so they could not have students

This is maybe the dumbest part of this. The polling stations are in the gym; just cancel gym classes that day. That's what happened when I was a kid, we never had off for election day.

You're ok with 100s of adult strangers entering the building all day with kids in the building? That's a first for me

Every gym has a separate entrance area and internal doors guarding the rest of the school. Like be real

Again you are ok with unvetted strangers having access through a side door entrance with no sign in log or vetting process? You are aware that registered sex offenders still often have voting rights and you are inviting them into our elementary schools.

Crazy to see how this board went from needing to turn our schools into fortified secure locations one week and the next there are people advocating for open access to the building because closing school for one day is “inconvenient”

It's not that deep Karen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who wants to email state reps, here is the info:
Official Bill Number: HB1084 (2026)
Title: Montgomery County – County Board of Education – School Operation Requirements
Summary: Authorizes Montgomery County to meet either the minimum school day count or the minimum instructional hours requirement.

[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>

Why would we do this? This is NOT a state issues. This is a MCPS issue and it has been for decades. If MCPS is not using the 3 make-up days and the state allowed President's Day to be used and we also didn't use that day or Tuesday - what else should the state do? Just allow MCPS to continue to be an absolute train wreck and go to school less days than all of the other counties?

+1 And plenty of other Maryland school districts aren't dumb like MCPS and include 3 snow days in the calendar, and not just 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's 2018-2019: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://teacherquality.nctq.org/dmsView/0285_18_2018-19_SchoolCalendar&ved=2ahUKEwjQ7LaSmeiSAxVXFlkFHR48GuQQFnoECBAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2Bv9-dJpYrnJ4juwux-MaD

Looks like they used to have half days for end of quarter grading/planning instead of full.

They need to go back to that.

Yes, we can't have BOTH full-day grading days and take off every single religious holiday. I don't care which we get rid of, but it has to be one.

Or you start one week earlier in August like FCPS dose, and which also has a lot of religious holidays built in (and 3 snow days, unlike stupid MCPS which only puts in 1). There are a lot of options here that are preferrable to this annual chaos around MCPS snow days.

Where I grew up we had 3 snow days. If they weren't used, school ended earlier. If there were more than 3 snow days, they were added on in June. There wasn't this drama and constantly shifting calendars like MCPS does.

I hate MCPS but FCPS goes by hours so they have a lot of flexibility in their schedule. They added 30min to every day about 10 years ago and didn't have to make up a week of snow days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who wants to email state reps, here is the info:
Official Bill Number: HB1084 (2026)
Title: Montgomery County – County Board of Education – School Operation Requirements
Summary: Authorizes Montgomery County to meet either the minimum school day count or the minimum instructional hours requirement.

[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>

Why would we do this? This is NOT a state issues. This is a MCPS issue and it has been for decades. If MCPS is not using the 3 make-up days and the state allowed President's Day to be used and we also didn't use that day or Tuesday - what else should the state do? Just allow MCPS to continue to be an absolute train wreck and go to school less days than all of the other counties?

+1 And plenty of other Maryland school districts aren't dumb like MCPS and include 3 snow days in the calendar, and not just 1.

And other Maryland school districts submitted a virtual learning plan for snow emergencies to MSDE. MCPS never did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who wants to email state reps, here is the info:
Official Bill Number: HB1084 (2026)
Title: Montgomery County – County Board of Education – School Operation Requirements
Summary: Authorizes Montgomery County to meet either the minimum school day count or the minimum instructional hours requirement.

[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>

Why would we do this? This is NOT a state issues. This is a MCPS issue and it has been for decades. If MCPS is not using the 3 make-up days and the state allowed President's Day to be used and we also didn't use that day or Tuesday - what else should the state do? Just allow MCPS to continue to be an absolute train wreck and go to school less days than all of the other counties?

Exactly - I remember a time I think in 2009/10 when my oldest was in ES and MCPS asked the parents to contact the state to complain about being the only county who didn't get an accepted waiver, but once again they were the only one to not use President's day, teacher work days, take of a day of Spring break, etc... They put ZERO effort into trying to get their 180 days in and the state was like - oh well, not our problem. And this was BEFORE any religious holidays were days off besides the two Jewish ones in the Fall. Now it is so much worse. Kids barely go to school 5 days a week anymore. They might as well just have year round school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From now on, instead of having a non instructional day after each of the first 3 quarters, we should just have two half days instead. Teachers get time for grading and planning and we add 3 more instructional days that way. Long planned half days are less disruptive than days tacked on to the end of the year.

The teacher's union won't like that because the teachers want to sleep in and grade in their jammies at home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And if we get a few flakes Sunday, are they going to close Monday? What happens then?

Yes. June 26 another early release day.

[Anonymous]

Kids go to school on federal holidays like columbus day and veterans day. Could Juneteenth be on the table? Also, good friday and easter monday are not federal holidays.