MCPS updated calendar is insane

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So why does MCPS include makeup days in the calendar, and then not use them? 3/20 and 4/15 would have been preferable to these June days.

They are trying to get a waiver of the 180 days requirement. It’s a gambit. It appears so outrageous, and then they just want out of the days requirement. The state legislature may actually do it…even though they are not using the designated back up days.

It was already denied yesterday. The state has had it with MCPS entitlement

MCPS is pushing emergency bill right now in state legislature to override

It didn’t work last time they tried. All other counties in Maryland but us were operational after the week off weekend AND used some of their contingency days. PG even used Presidents Day when the state allowed it. MC did not. The teachers union refused to use April 15th. Muslims want their holiday.

Why should the state allow MCPS to go less days than every other f’ing county when they haven’t put ANY effort getting these kids the right number of days.

The problem now is that MCPS is getting the legislature to change the law just for them. What an embarrassment. Half our kids can’t read at grade level, and they are even worse at math, but MCPS is seeking to permanently get rid of the 180 day requirement — rather than commit to doing better planning moving forward.

Not sure at all why people are making comments like this about the proposed legislation. Schools are required to be in session for a certain number of hours per year, period. I forget what the requirement is in MD for elementary schools, but for high schools I believe it is 1170 hours. MCPS exceeds this requirement in its proposed yearly calendars by approximately 16 days. There is a separate requirement for schools regarding how short or long a particular school day is - to avoid unlikely scenarios like making kids go to school for just a couple of hours at a time or creating school days that last from dawn until dusk. With these limitations, I don't see a single valid argument for adding the caveat that schools must meet these requirements in a format of 180 separate days or more. It's just dumb. As long as school districts are meeting for a specified minimum amount of time within reasonable daily parameters, no one should care of it happens in 170 days or in 185. In light of inclement weather, this legislation would simply eliminate the arbitrary requirement of meeting both the hourly AND daily requirement. Done. Saying that's unreasonable is pointless.

It isn't unreasonable nor is it unusual to specify a number of days. Particularly in elementary school, curriculum is based on daily lessons. You can't get through the material without a sufficient number of days. You can't extend a day by 10% and do 1.1 lessons per day.

MCPS isn't just engaged in poor planning- they're deliberately harming kids. They know they don't have enough days in the calendar, but continue to pass calendars that repeat those decisions. The half-days tacked on to the end of the year are outrageous. The superintendent and BoE are trying to make them as worthless as possible in the hopes that MD will let them out of their legal responsibilities.

Colorado requires 160 days, Minnesota 165 days, Kentucky 170 days and many others have a straight hours requirement (like 990 hours) equating that to "180 days: If MD E/MS schools get 1080 hours that is 90 more than many other states and 1170 for high schools is more than any other state requires. They are not being shortened on time. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_14.asp

And yet 180 days is the most common requirement, as posted elsewhere. "The most common way that states regulate instructional time is to set a minimum number of days for the school year; 38 states and the District of Columbia do so. The majority of those states (27 of 38), along with D.C., mandate 180 instructional days, making it the closest thing the country has to a national norm."

And 180 is already too few for MCPS, which is failing its students.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/09/07/in-the-u-s-180-days-of-school-is-most-common-but-length-of-school-day-varies-by-state/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So why does MCPS include makeup days in the calendar, and then not use them? 3/20 and 4/15 would have been preferable to these June days.

They are trying to get a waiver of the 180 days requirement. It’s a gambit. It appears so outrageous, and then they just want out of the days requirement. The state legislature may actually do it…even though they are not using the designated back up days.

It was already denied yesterday. The state has had it with MCPS entitlement

MCPS is pushing emergency bill right now in state legislature to override

It didn’t work last time they tried. All other counties in Maryland but us were operational after the week off weekend AND used some of their contingency days. PG even used Presidents Day when the state allowed it. MC did not. The teachers union refused to use April 15th. Muslims want their holiday.

Why should the state allow MCPS to go less days than every other f’ing county when they haven’t put ANY effort getting these kids the right number of days.

The problem now is that MCPS is getting the legislature to change the law just for them. What an embarrassment. Half our kids can’t read at grade level, and they are even worse at math, but MCPS is seeking to permanently get rid of the 180 day requirement — rather than commit to doing better planning moving forward.

Not sure at all why people are making comments like this about the proposed legislation. Schools are required to be in session for a certain number of hours per year, period. I forget what the requirement is in MD for elementary schools, but for high schools I believe it is 1170 hours. MCPS exceeds this requirement in its proposed yearly calendars by approximately 16 days. There is a separate requirement for schools regarding how short or long a particular school day is - to avoid unlikely scenarios like making kids go to school for just a couple of hours at a time or creating school days that last from dawn until dusk. With these limitations, I don't see a single valid argument for adding the caveat that schools must meet these requirements in a format of 180 separate days or more. It's just dumb. As long as school districts are meeting for a specified minimum amount of time within reasonable daily parameters, no one should care of it happens in 170 days or in 185. In light of inclement weather, this legislation would simply eliminate the arbitrary requirement of meeting both the hourly AND daily requirement. Done. Saying that's unreasonable is pointless.

It isn't unreasonable nor is it unusual to specify a number of days. Particularly in elementary school, curriculum is based on daily lessons. You can't get through the material without a sufficient number of days. You can't extend a day by 10% and do 1.1 lessons per day.

MCPS isn't just engaged in poor planning- they're deliberately harming kids. They know they don't have enough days in the calendar, but continue to pass calendars that repeat those decisions. The half-days tacked on to the end of the year are outrageous. The superintendent and BoE are trying to make them as worthless as possible in the hopes that MD will let them out of their legal responsibilities.

Colorado requires 160 days, Minnesota 165 days, Kentucky 170 days and many others have a straight hours requirement (like 990 hours) equating that to "180 days: If MD E/MS schools get 1080 hours that is 90 more than many other states and 1170 for high schools is more than any other state requires. They are not being shortened on time. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_14.asp

Look at that table- lots of rows with 180.

I grew up in Minnesota, so your reference to that is funny to me. It was a sore subject for kids when I was in school. We'd always complain that we had 15 more days in the calendar than the state requirement. That's common there. Can you imagine MCPS doing more than the bare minimum? Or even reaching the bare minimum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we not agree that this year is extremely unusual?? Just because people want exceptions this year doesn't mean it should be or would be a permanent thing. I think if people are loud enough, the board will hear and hopefully amend next year's calendar. It's not too late, as they already amended one day in September 2026 that was slated to be off that is now a school day.

Except it wasn't. We have snow days every year. So far the total number has been pretty normal for a typical year. They were bunched together more, but the overall number is typical.

Do people really not remember last year? Or before covid? It might seem worse, but that's just because MCPS used to build in more days knowing that it snows in the winter. Now they try to pretend it doesn't when they make the calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So why does MCPS include makeup days in the calendar, and then not use them? 3/20 and 4/15 would have been preferable to these June days.

They are trying to get a waiver of the 180 days requirement. It’s a gambit. It appears so outrageous, and then they just want out of the days requirement. The state legislature may actually do it…even though they are not using the designated back up days.

It was already denied yesterday. The state has had it with MCPS entitlement

MCPS is pushing emergency bill right now in state legislature to override

It didn’t work last time they tried. All other counties in Maryland but us were operational after the week off weekend AND used some of their contingency days. PG even used Presidents Day when the state allowed it. MC did not. The teachers union refused to use April 15th. Muslims want their holiday.

Why should the state allow MCPS to go less days than every other f’ing county when they haven’t put ANY effort getting these kids the right number of days.

The problem now is that MCPS is getting the legislature to change the law just for them. What an embarrassment. Half our kids can’t read at grade level, and they are even worse at math, but MCPS is seeking to permanently get rid of the 180 day requirement — rather than commit to doing better planning moving forward.

Not sure at all why people are making comments like this about the proposed legislation. Schools are required to be in session for a certain number of hours per year, period. I forget what the requirement is in MD for elementary schools, but for high schools I believe it is 1170 hours. MCPS exceeds this requirement in its proposed yearly calendars by approximately 16 days. There is a separate requirement for schools regarding how short or long a particular school day is - to avoid unlikely scenarios like making kids go to school for just a couple of hours at a time or creating school days that last from dawn until dusk. With these limitations, I don't see a single valid argument for adding the caveat that schools must meet these requirements in a format of 180 separate days or more. It's just dumb. As long as school districts are meeting for a specified minimum amount of time within reasonable daily parameters, no one should care of it happens in 170 days or in 185. In light of inclement weather, this legislation would simply eliminate the arbitrary requirement of meeting both the hourly AND daily requirement. Done. Saying that's unreasonable is pointless.

It isn't unreasonable nor is it unusual to specify a number of days. Particularly in elementary school, curriculum is based on daily lessons. You can't get through the material without a sufficient number of days. You can't extend a day by 10% and do 1.1 lessons per day.

MCPS isn't just engaged in poor planning- they're deliberately harming kids. They know they don't have enough days in the calendar, but continue to pass calendars that repeat those decisions. The half-days tacked on to the end of the year are outrageous. The superintendent and BoE are trying to make them as worthless as possible in the hopes that MD will let them out of their legal responsibilities.

This is 100% what is happening, and unfortunately the legislature, led by the Montgomery County delegation, is going to fall for it -- and our kids will suffer.

+1 Once I realized what’s going on it’s maddening.

I don't think it will pass. It is obviously a horrible policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So why does MCPS include makeup days in the calendar, and then not use them? 3/20 and 4/15 would have been preferable to these June days.

They are trying to get a waiver of the 180 days requirement. It’s a gambit. It appears so outrageous, and then they just want out of the days requirement. The state legislature may actually do it…even though they are not using the designated back up days.

It was already denied yesterday. The state has had it with MCPS entitlement

MCPS is pushing emergency bill right now in state legislature to override

It didn’t work last time they tried. All other counties in Maryland but us were operational after the week off weekend AND used some of their contingency days. PG even used Presidents Day when the state allowed it. MC did not. The teachers union refused to use April 15th. Muslims want their holiday.

Why should the state allow MCPS to go less days than every other f’ing county when they haven’t put ANY effort getting these kids the right number of days.

The problem now is that MCPS is getting the legislature to change the law just for them. What an embarrassment. Half our kids can’t read at grade level, and they are even worse at math, but MCPS is seeking to permanently get rid of the 180 day requirement — rather than commit to doing better planning moving forward.

Not sure at all why people are making comments like this about the proposed legislation. Schools are required to be in session for a certain number of hours per year, period. I forget what the requirement is in MD for elementary schools, but for high schools I believe it is 1170 hours. MCPS exceeds this requirement in its proposed yearly calendars by approximately 16 days. There is a separate requirement for schools regarding how short or long a particular school day is - to avoid unlikely scenarios like making kids go to school for just a couple of hours at a time or creating school days that last from dawn until dusk. With these limitations, I don't see a single valid argument for adding the caveat that schools must meet these requirements in a format of 180 separate days or more. It's just dumb. As long as school districts are meeting for a specified minimum amount of time within reasonable daily parameters, no one should care of it happens in 170 days or in 185. In light of inclement weather, this legislation would simply eliminate the arbitrary requirement of meeting both the hourly AND daily requirement. Done. Saying that's unreasonable is pointless.

It isn't unreasonable nor is it unusual to specify a number of days. Particularly in elementary school, curriculum is based on daily lessons. You can't get through the material without a sufficient number of days. You can't extend a day by 10% and do 1.1 lessons per day.

MCPS isn't just engaged in poor planning- they're deliberately harming kids. They know they don't have enough days in the calendar, but continue to pass calendars that repeat those decisions. The half-days tacked on to the end of the year are outrageous. The superintendent and BoE are trying to make them as worthless as possible in the hopes that MD will let them out of their legal responsibilities.

This is 100% what is happening, and unfortunately the legislature, led by the Montgomery County delegation, is going to fall for it -- and our kids will suffer.

+1 Once I realized what’s going on it’s maddening.

I don't think it will pass. It is obviously a horrible policy.

I don't know - you have both MCPS and the union fighting for it. It's bad policy, but that certainly hasn't stopped bills from becoming law in the past. Parents who are opposed really need to write and call their legislators to let them know, because there is immense pressure to pass it given the snow we have had and MCPS's response just to tack on days at the end of the year, when it will be expensive and many kids and teachers won't show up. And of course, the fix they seek is permanent, not just for this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what 3 contingency days could have been used?
March 20, June 18 and ??
Just do that and resubmit. June 25 is outrageous for a last day

April 15 was the other one in the calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So why does MCPS include makeup days in the calendar, and then not use them? 3/20 and 4/15 would have been preferable to these June days.

They are trying to get a waiver of the 180 days requirement. It’s a gambit. It appears so outrageous, and then they just want out of the days requirement. The state legislature may actually do it…even though they are not using the designated back up days.

It was already denied yesterday. The state has had it with MCPS entitlement

MCPS is pushing emergency bill right now in state legislature to override

It didn’t work last time they tried. All other counties in Maryland but us were operational after the week off weekend AND used some of their contingency days. PG even used Presidents Day when the state allowed it. MC did not. The teachers union refused to use April 15th. Muslims want their holiday.

Why should the state allow MCPS to go less days than every other f’ing county when they haven’t put ANY effort getting these kids the right number of days.

The problem now is that MCPS is getting the legislature to change the law just for them. What an embarrassment. Half our kids can’t read at grade level, and they are even worse at math, but MCPS is seeking to permanently get rid of the 180 day requirement — rather than commit to doing better planning moving forward.

Not sure at all why people are making comments like this about the proposed legislation. Schools are required to be in session for a certain number of hours per year, period. I forget what the requirement is in MD for elementary schools, but for high schools I believe it is 1170 hours. MCPS exceeds this requirement in its proposed yearly calendars by approximately 16 days. There is a separate requirement for schools regarding how short or long a particular school day is - to avoid unlikely scenarios like making kids go to school for just a couple of hours at a time or creating school days that last from dawn until dusk. With these limitations, I don't see a single valid argument for adding the caveat that schools must meet these requirements in a format of 180 separate days or more. It's just dumb. As long as school districts are meeting for a specified minimum amount of time within reasonable daily parameters, no one should care of it happens in 170 days or in 185. In light of inclement weather, this legislation would simply eliminate the arbitrary requirement of meeting both the hourly AND daily requirement. Done. Saying that's unreasonable is pointless.

It isn't unreasonable nor is it unusual to specify a number of days. Particularly in elementary school, curriculum is based on daily lessons. You can't get through the material without a sufficient number of days. You can't extend a day by 10% and do 1.1 lessons per day.

MCPS isn't just engaged in poor planning- they're deliberately harming kids. They know they don't have enough days in the calendar, but continue to pass calendars that repeat those decisions. The half-days tacked on to the end of the year are outrageous. The superintendent and BoE are trying to make them as worthless as possible in the hopes that MD will let them out of their legal responsibilities.

This is 100% what is happening, and unfortunately the legislature, led by the Montgomery County delegation, is going to fall for it -- and our kids will suffer.

+1 Once I realized what’s going on it’s maddening.

I don't think it will pass. It is obviously a horrible policy.

I don't know - you have both MCPS and the union fighting for it. It's bad policy, but that certainly hasn't stopped bills from becoming law in the past. Parents who are opposed really need to write and call their legislators to let them know, because there is immense pressure to pass it given the snow we have had and MCPS's response just to tack on days at the end of the year, when it will be expensive and many kids and teachers won't show up. And of course, the fix they seek is permanent, not just for this year.

MCEA doesn't have a stranglehold over the state legislature like they do the MoCo Council and BoE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we not agree that this year is extremely unusual?? Just because people want exceptions this year doesn't mean it should be or would be a permanent thing. I think if people are loud enough, the board will hear and hopefully amend next year's calendar. It's not too late, as they already amended one day in September 2026 that was slated to be off that is now a school day.

Except it wasn't. We have snow days every year. So far the total number has been pretty normal for a typical year. They were bunched together more, but the overall number is typical.

Do people really not remember last year? Or before covid? It might seem worse, but that's just because MCPS used to build in more days knowing that it snows in the winter. Now they try to pretend it doesn't when they make the calendar.

Agree. MCPS closes very easily. If there's an inch upcountry and rain downcountry, we close. We often use 4-5 days, sometimes more. What the legislature should be doing is requiring MCPS to schedule a 185 day school year, and then if we don't use them ending school early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we not agree that this year is extremely unusual?? Just because people want exceptions this year doesn't mean it should be or would be a permanent thing. I think if people are loud enough, the board will hear and hopefully amend next year's calendar. It's not too late, as they already amended one day in September 2026 that was slated to be off that is now a school day.

Except it wasn't. We have snow days every year. So far the total number has been pretty normal for a typical year. They were bunched together more, but the overall number is typical.

Do people really not remember last year? Or before covid? It might seem worse, but that's just because MCPS used to build in more days knowing that it snows in the winter. Now they try to pretend it doesn't when they make the calendar.

Agree. MCPS closes very easily. If there's an inch upcountry and rain downcountry, we close. We often use 4-5 days, sometimes more. What the legislature should be doing is requiring MCPS to schedule a 185 day school year, and then if we don't use them ending school early.

That is what Frederick County MD does. There are even some states that require the extra days to be put onto the calendar and then given back at the end if they are not used. MCPS claims that they cannot do that because if the extra days are given back at the end, the teachers will not be paid. Not sure how so many other systems do this. I am sure it can be put in the contract to pay them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we not agree that this year is extremely unusual?? Just because people want exceptions this year doesn't mean it should be or would be a permanent thing. I think if people are loud enough, the board will hear and hopefully amend next year's calendar. It's not too late, as they already amended one day in September 2026 that was slated to be off that is now a school day.

Except it wasn't. We have snow days every year. So far the total number has been pretty normal for a typical year. They were bunched together more, but the overall number is typical.

Do people really not remember last year? Or before covid? It might seem worse, but that's just because MCPS used to build in more days knowing that it snows in the winter. Now they try to pretend it doesn't when they make the calendar.

Agree. MCPS closes very easily. If there's an inch upcountry and rain downcountry, we close. We often use 4-5 days, sometimes more. What the legislature should be doing is requiring MCPS to schedule a 185 day school year, and then if we don't use them ending school early.

That's just a myth that MCPS allows to perpetuate to avoid responsibility. Conditions are almost always fine upcounty. But MCPS doesn't bother to clear the schools. This time it mostly downcounty schools that MCPS didn't get ready

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we not agree that this year is extremely unusual?? Just because people want exceptions this year doesn't mean it should be or would be a permanent thing. I think if people are loud enough, the board will hear and hopefully amend next year's calendar. It's not too late, as they already amended one day in September 2026 that was slated to be off that is now a school day.

Except it wasn't. We have snow days every year. So far the total number has been pretty normal for a typical year. They were bunched together more, but the overall number is typical.

Do people really not remember last year? Or before covid? It might seem worse, but that's just because MCPS used to build in more days knowing that it snows in the winter. Now they try to pretend it doesn't when they make the calendar.

Agree. MCPS closes very easily. If there's an inch upcountry and rain downcountry, we close. We often use 4-5 days, sometimes more. What the legislature should be doing is requiring MCPS to schedule a 185 day school year, and then if we don't use them ending school early.

That is what Frederick County MD does. There are even some states that require the extra days to be put onto the calendar and then given back at the end if they are not used. MCPS claims that they cannot do that because if the extra days are given back at the end, the teachers will not be paid. Not sure how so many other systems do this. I am sure it can be put in the contract to pay them.

That's ridiculous - teacher are paid to teach 180 days (plus PD days on top of that). If they have taught 180 days, then they are paid whether that is ending earlier than expected or later than expected. And agree that is certainly something that can be added to the contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we not agree that this year is extremely unusual?? Just because people want exceptions this year doesn't mean it should be or would be a permanent thing. I think if people are loud enough, the board will hear and hopefully amend next year's calendar. It's not too late, as they already amended one day in September 2026 that was slated to be off that is now a school day.

Except it wasn't. We have snow days every year. So far the total number has been pretty normal for a typical year. They were bunched together more, but the overall number is typical.

Do people really not remember last year? Or before covid? It might seem worse, but that's just because MCPS used to build in more days knowing that it snows in the winter. Now they try to pretend it doesn't when they make the calendar.

Agree. MCPS closes very easily. If there's an inch upcountry and rain downcountry, we close. We often use 4-5 days, sometimes more. What the legislature should be doing is requiring MCPS to schedule a 185 day school year, and then if we don't use them ending school early.

That is what Frederick County MD does. There are even some states that require the extra days to be put onto the calendar and then given back at the end if they are not used. MCPS claims that they cannot do that because if the extra days are given back at the end, the teachers will not be paid. Not sure how so many other systems do this. I am sure it can be put in the contract to pay them.

That's a bad policy, too. People will gamble that the days will get canceled and we'd be back in the same situation. Child care that week would be a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we not agree that this year is extremely unusual?? Just because people want exceptions this year doesn't mean it should be or would be a permanent thing. I think if people are loud enough, the board will hear and hopefully amend next year's calendar. It's not too late, as they already amended one day in September 2026 that was slated to be off that is now a school day.

Except it wasn't. We have snow days every year. So far the total number has been pretty normal for a typical year. They were bunched together more, but the overall number is typical.

Do people really not remember last year? Or before covid? It might seem worse, but that's just because MCPS used to build in more days knowing that it snows in the winter. Now they try to pretend it doesn't when they make the calendar.

Agree. MCPS closes very easily. If there's an inch upcountry and rain downcountry, we close. We often use 4-5 days, sometimes more. What the legislature should be doing is requiring MCPS to schedule a 185 day school year, and then if we don't use them ending school early.

That is what Frederick County MD does. There are even some states that require the extra days to be put onto the calendar and then given back at the end if they are not used. MCPS claims that they cannot do that because if the extra days are given back at the end, the teachers will not be paid. Not sure how so many other systems do this. I am sure it can be put in the contract to pay them.

That's ridiculous - teacher are paid to teach 180 days (plus PD days on top of that). If they have taught 180 days, then they are paid whether that is ending earlier than expected or later than expected. And agree that is certainly something that can be added to the contract.

This is effectively what MCPS has been doing. And it is a terrible way to handle it. There's an extra week in the calendar that is only used if we have snow days.

But we implement it in the most chaotic and worthless way possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we not agree that this year is extremely unusual?? Just because people want exceptions this year doesn't mean it should be or would be a permanent thing. I think if people are loud enough, the board will hear and hopefully amend next year's calendar. It's not too late, as they already amended one day in September 2026 that was slated to be off that is now a school day.

Except it wasn't. We have snow days every year. So far the total number has been pretty normal for a typical year. They were bunched together more, but the overall number is typical.

Do people really not remember last year? Or before covid? It might seem worse, but that's just because MCPS used to build in more days knowing that it snows in the winter. Now they try to pretend it doesn't when they make the calendar.

Agree. MCPS closes very easily. If there's an inch upcountry and rain downcountry, we close. We often use 4-5 days, sometimes more. What the legislature should be doing is requiring MCPS to schedule a 185 day school year, and then if we don't use them ending school early.

That is what Frederick County MD does. There are even some states that require the extra days to be put onto the calendar and then given back at the end if they are not used. MCPS claims that they cannot do that because if the extra days are given back at the end, the teachers will not be paid. Not sure how so many other systems do this. I am sure it can be put in the contract to pay them.

That's ridiculous - teacher are paid to teach 180 days (plus PD days on top of that). If they have taught 180 days, then they are paid whether that is ending earlier than expected or later than expected. And agree that is certainly something that can be added to the contract.

This is effectively what MCPS has been doing. And it is a terrible way to handle it. There's an extra week in the calendar that is only used if we have snow days.

But we implement it in the most chaotic and worthless way possible.

That is not how we handle it right now. Right now we have a few contingency days that everyone thinks are non instructional. If we have to many snow days, we take away the day off and make it a school day. The other way is to have the days already on the schedule. Everyone thinks they are instructional days, but if we do not have to many snow days, we give them back and they become no noninstructional days.

Both ways have pros and cons. No matter what we will always have people who take off when it is clearly on the schedule. The second way at least is clear about when you should not plan vacation, it gives people the worst case scenario. If someone takes a gamble, it is on them. The current way leaves people wondering if they will or will not use the contingency day, if they will or will not add days to the end of the year, if they will or will not get a waiver, heck, even wondering if the state legislature will pass a new law or not.

[Anonymous]

I’m confused about whether current law (and the new legislation if passed) refers to 1,080 hours of instructional time (i.e, excluding lunch and recess) or scheduled time at school.

Taylor’s memo uses scheduled time in the building (6.5 hours/day for elem) which is why it appears that elementary time exceeds the 1,080 minimum. But if you exclude recess and lunch (non-instructional) there are not extra hours.