2026-2027 calendar updates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't it funny that when parents complain that MCPS fails to open schools 1 week after a snowstorm when everyone else in MoCo is back to work, MCPS staff post that we are incapable of parenting our children and that we need to be flexible for our child's safety.

Yet MCPS staff can't deal with a schedule change in the school start date that is announced 4 months in advance that might mess up their beach vacation.

I’m a parent and a different poster than who you’re quoting and I think moving the date is unreasonable. Most have to plan summers at least 6 months if not more in advance. For me I worked with my kid to map out their summer so they could do the various camps they wanted. She’s now going to miss the one camp she said was her number 1 priority. We’re not taking a vacation this summer. In fact we’re taking it over Christmas when I have off from work and moving winter break will affect us even worse and she will miss school then.

They need to stick with the calendar they already published and use the days they already designated. Perhaps add a few more too. But don’t change the start and end dates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP: As an MCPS graduate and a current MCPS teacher of 19 years, this is the first time I have ever seen MCPS propose moving the first day of school earlier after the calendar had already been announced. It has always been understood that snow days would be used as originally advertised.

What snow days are you talking about? There was only 1 snow day allocated this year, yet MCPS used 6 of them. Last year MCPS also exceeded the number of snow days allocated and it was a mess with June half days (and this year was even worse). I hope you don't teach math or logic, because you seem not to be understanding that making the same mistakes annually and expecting a different result is pretty dumb.

MCPS has makeup days designated in their calendar and refused to use them. Specifically March 20, which happened to align with Eid and then April 15. They begrudgingly changed April 15 when they were backed into a corner and backed down on March 20 when a vocal part of the community went whining to Council about how unfair it was even though it had been designated as a makeup day in the calendar for over a year prior.

Next year MCPS similarly ALREADY has makeup days within the school year designated (along with the days after Juneteenth that the are now not allowed to use). If they actually use the days they have designated and not relied on the end of year ones they’d actually be in compliance with the new regs. But they’re admitting they have no intention of using the within year makeup days and just want to tack on days to the end, so are moving the end date up to be able to tack on if the have to.

Yes, which is a logical thing to do rather than to pretend they're going to use the makeup days and then not do so and ask for a waiver to provide kids with below the minimum of 180 instructional days like they did this year.

I don't understand some of you selfish posters---whining about your individual beach vacations---when most MCPS kids aren't achieving basic standards for math and reading.

Fine, skip the start of school if you prioritize your beach vacation. But don't insist the rest of the county get dragged down with you because you're part of an entitled vocal minority who prioritizes their non-refundable vacation plans over educational outcomes for a much larger student population.

[Anonymous]

So many of these posts show a real empathy gap. It’s very disheartening. We all want our kids to go to school and we all want to be able to spend time with our families and observing religious occasions. And we need a calendar that doesn’t change multiple times.

The real culprit here is MCPS and the board that doesn’t exercise oversight.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I've worked in the system for over twenty years at the elementary level and here are my thoughts...

1) Nobody likes transition day except for Dr. Taylor. It's a waste of time and screws over the K, 6th, and 9th grade teachers.

2) I would be okay with having half-days for grading and reporting in MP 1 and 3. I do think our secondary counterparts need the full day at the end of MP 2 to prepare for their second semester classes.

3) SPED teachers need more IEP writing days given to them but that doesn't impact whether school is open or closed. There's already not enough time to handle the paperwork on our quarterly grading days.

4) When I did my admin program we were told we closed for Christian and Jewish holidays in order to be able to function as a school system. If we remained open, there wouldn't be enough staff to operate the building. While I appreciate the diversity in our county, I don't know what percentage of staff and students celebrate some of the recent holiday additions to our calendar. Perhaps allow everyone excused absences or leave that day.

I agree with this. They do not know if they need to close for operational reasons. Being open for religious holidays next year would let them collect data to determine whether there is an operational need to close moving forward -- another benefit of doing it.

DP. True, but aren't they only considering marking the religious holidays as potential makeup days, not as school days from the outset?

I don't think so. They would do this instead of starting school early, so those are days they would actually be open.

No, on the survey they sent out Thursday, the option is written as "Identifying days of religious observance as inclement weather makeup days."

Well, that's not what they say in the presentation. These are the three options:

Given the scheduled non-instructional days, three options or combinations of options are possible to meet new requirements to add capacity to address inclement weather closures:

1. Open school on non-instructional days that also are religious observances; allow excused absences and minimize instructional conflicts.

2. Reduce the length of Winter Break and/or Spring Break.

3. Start the school year earlier in August.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DT7SZF751736/$file/Proposed%20Amendments%202026-2027%20SY%20Calendar%20PPT%20260416.pdf

The superintendent is recommending the worst of the three options.

They mean that in the event of inclement weather closures requiring makeup days, they could open school on non-instructional days that are also religious observances.

That's not how I read it. The point is not to have to open school a week earlier. The way to do that is to open up on religious holidays instead.

Instead of opening earlier, they could keep the start as it currently is and convert religious days to school days if needed if they have too many snow days.

Exactly. The calendar they already have works if they actually use the days they’ve designated

It seems crazy to me that they won't do this. This is a no-brainer. I can't believe the superintendent instead is recommending starting school a week earlier.

Because when they dared to use Eid this year, a day that was already designated as a makeup day in the calendar the approved, they got backlash from a small part of the community who cried equity to Council so now they’re scared to go by what they’ve already said they would do.

I don't care. At a certain point, our kids need to be in school. MCPS needs to grow a pair and stand up to the county council. And if they designate all religious holidays, not just Muslim ones, as potential makeup days, Muslim residents will not feel targeted.

I don’t either. The sarcasm in my post I guess was not apparent… this whole thing is stupid. Kids need to be in school. We can’t cater to every individuals need to be off

Exactly this. All religious holidays should be potential make-up days. When the last snow day is used and it snows again, the next snow make-up day should be used to make it up. The process that we will use should be communicated now and the potential dates should be listed. At that point, the days used simply depend on when it snows and how long our snow days last. This makes it less personal - this process should not be perceived as personal - it is an operational decision on the part of a very large organization.

Lot simpler to just start school one week earlier. I understand the superintendent’s logic

Not for next year it's not.

Why not? Because you would rather be on vacation?

DP here

Yes! I would rather go on the beach vacation I spent time planning and have been looking forward to.

The world doesn't revolve around your beach vacation, Jan. You have 4 months to make new plans, or your kids can skip out on the first days of school.

Well Marcia, some of us make plans with extended family and others would also be impacted by this change with nonrefundable deposits. We made these plans after the calendar came out because oh I don’t know, you think you can relay on the calendar!

You chose to be cheap and make plans with non-refundable deposits knowing that the MCPS schedule shifted quite a bit over the last two years--were you hiding under a rock when the date of the last day of school changed several times this year? and last year? Most MCPS parents are not like you.

If by “cheap” you mean don’t have thousands of dollars to spend to change this vacation with siblings and grandparents then sure.

We’ve had students in the system for a dozen years and they have NEVER changed the first day of school after the calendar is set.

I hope your vitriol makes you happy.

Not as happy as you insisting that the world revolve around your family's beach plans seems to make you. MCPS needs to start earlier in August if it wants to maintain its professional development days, teacher non-instructional days and many religious holidays. Next year is as good a time as any. You have 4 months to adjust.

It’s not about individual vacations! It’s about adhering to a calendar that was published as final that people reasonably relied upon.

That bubble of superiority you live in must be amazing.

What county are you living in? It's certainly not MoCo. The MCPS school calendar changed a half a dozen time this year. It boggles the mind that you think it's "published as final" when it changed so often this year (and last year).

+1 This year was a hot mess. Use the Eid makeup day. Cancel use of the Eid makeup day. April 15 is a teacher non instructional day. Then it's not. And the last day of school? We're still getting questions on our PTA parent listserv asking if it's June 22, from those parents who haven't realized that MCPS got a pass to screw students out of 3 days of instruction this year.

I hope next year is better--starting earlier in August should help.

LOL and what about the parents who printed off the “final” 26-27 calendar that to this day is still on MCPS website as official and made plans around it and then end up missing the first week of school?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I've worked in the system for over twenty years at the elementary level and here are my thoughts...

1) Nobody likes transition day except for Dr. Taylor. It's a waste of time and screws over the K, 6th, and 9th grade teachers.

2) I would be okay with having half-days for grading and reporting in MP 1 and 3. I do think our secondary counterparts need the full day at the end of MP 2 to prepare for their second semester classes.

3) SPED teachers need more IEP writing days given to them but that doesn't impact whether school is open or closed. There's already not enough time to handle the paperwork on our quarterly grading days.

4) When I did my admin program we were told we closed for Christian and Jewish holidays in order to be able to function as a school system. If we remained open, there wouldn't be enough staff to operate the building. While I appreciate the diversity in our county, I don't know what percentage of staff and students celebrate some of the recent holiday additions to our calendar. Perhaps allow everyone excused absences or leave that day.

I agree with this. They do not know if they need to close for operational reasons. Being open for religious holidays next year would let them collect data to determine whether there is an operational need to close moving forward -- another benefit of doing it.

DP. True, but aren't they only considering marking the religious holidays as potential makeup days, not as school days from the outset?

I don't think so. They would do this instead of starting school early, so those are days they would actually be open.

No, on the survey they sent out Thursday, the option is written as "Identifying days of religious observance as inclement weather makeup days."

Well, that's not what they say in the presentation. These are the three options:

Given the scheduled non-instructional days, three options or combinations of options are possible to meet new requirements to add capacity to address inclement weather closures:

1. Open school on non-instructional days that also are religious observances; allow excused absences and minimize instructional conflicts.

2. Reduce the length of Winter Break and/or Spring Break.

3. Start the school year earlier in August.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DT7SZF751736/$file/Proposed%20Amendments%202026-2027%20SY%20Calendar%20PPT%20260416.pdf

The superintendent is recommending the worst of the three options.

They mean that in the event of inclement weather closures requiring makeup days, they could open school on non-instructional days that are also religious observances.

That's not how I read it. The point is not to have to open school a week earlier. The way to do that is to open up on religious holidays instead.

Instead of opening earlier, they could keep the start as it currently is and convert religious days to school days if needed if they have too many snow days.

Exactly. The calendar they already have works if they actually use the days they’ve designated

It seems crazy to me that they won't do this. This is a no-brainer. I can't believe the superintendent instead is recommending starting school a week earlier.

Because when they dared to use Eid this year, a day that was already designated as a makeup day in the calendar the approved, they got backlash from a small part of the community who cried equity to Council so now they’re scared to go by what they’ve already said they would do.

I don't care. At a certain point, our kids need to be in school. MCPS needs to grow a pair and stand up to the county council. And if they designate all religious holidays, not just Muslim ones, as potential makeup days, Muslim residents will not feel targeted.

I don’t either. The sarcasm in my post I guess was not apparent… this whole thing is stupid. Kids need to be in school. We can’t cater to every individuals need to be off

Exactly this. All religious holidays should be potential make-up days. When the last snow day is used and it snows again, the next snow make-up day should be used to make it up. The process that we will use should be communicated now and the potential dates should be listed. At that point, the days used simply depend on when it snows and how long our snow days last. This makes it less personal - this process should not be perceived as personal - it is an operational decision on the part of a very large organization.

Lot simpler to just start school one week earlier. I understand the superintendent’s logic

Not for next year it's not.

Why not? Because you would rather be on vacation?

DP here

Yes! I would rather go on the beach vacation I spent time planning and have been looking forward to.

The world doesn't revolve around your beach vacation, Jan. You have 4 months to make new plans, or your kids can skip out on the first days of school.

Well Marcia, some of us make plans with extended family and others would also be impacted by this change with nonrefundable deposits. We made these plans after the calendar came out because oh I don’t know, you think you can relay on the calendar!

You chose to be cheap and make plans with non-refundable deposits knowing that the MCPS schedule shifted quite a bit over the last two years--were you hiding under a rock when the date of the last day of school changed several times this year? and last year? Most MCPS parents are not like you.

If by “cheap” you mean don’t have thousands of dollars to spend to change this vacation with siblings and grandparents then sure.

We’ve had students in the system for a dozen years and they have NEVER changed the first day of school after the calendar is set.

I hope your vitriol makes you happy.

Not as happy as you insisting that the world revolve around your family's beach plans seems to make you. MCPS needs to start earlier in August if it wants to maintain its professional development days, teacher non-instructional days and many religious holidays. Next year is as good a time as any. You have 4 months to adjust.

It’s not about individual vacations! It’s about adhering to a calendar that was published as final that people reasonably relied upon.

That bubble of superiority you live in must be amazing.

What county are you living in? It's certainly not MoCo. The MCPS school calendar changed a half a dozen time this year. It boggles the mind that you think it's "published as final" when it changed so often this year (and last year).

+1 This year was a hot mess. Use the Eid makeup day. Cancel use of the Eid makeup day. April 15 is a teacher non instructional day. Then it's not. And the last day of school? We're still getting questions on our PTA parent listserv asking if it's June 22, from those parents who haven't realized that MCPS got a pass to screw students out of 3 days of instruction this year.

I hope next year is better--starting earlier in August should help.

LOL and what about the parents who printed off the “final” 26-27 calendar that to this day is still on MCPS website as official and made plans around it and then end up missing the first week of school?

They have 4 months to adjust--that would be better than this year. And for some of us, actually having our kids get 180 days of instructional time is a big win, rather than seeing them get shortchanged again because of some fiction that MCPS is going to use makeup days they have no intention of using.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP: As an MCPS graduate and a current MCPS teacher of 19 years, this is the first time I have ever seen MCPS propose moving the first day of school earlier after the calendar had already been announced. It has always been understood that snow days would be used as originally advertised.

What snow days are you talking about? There was only 1 snow day allocated this year, yet MCPS used 6 of them. Last year MCPS also exceeded the number of snow days allocated and it was a mess with June half days (and this year was even worse). I hope you don't teach math or logic, because you seem not to be understanding that making the same mistakes annually and expecting a different result is pretty dumb.

MCPS has makeup days designated in their calendar and refused to use them. Specifically March 20, which happened to align with Eid and then April 15. They begrudgingly changed April 15 when they were backed into a corner and backed down on March 20 when a vocal part of the community went whining to Council about how unfair it was even though it had been designated as a makeup day in the calendar for over a year prior.

Next year MCPS similarly ALREADY has makeup days within the school year designated (along with the days after Juneteenth that the are now not allowed to use). If they actually use the days they have designated and not relied on the end of year ones they’d actually be in compliance with the new regs. But they’re admitting they have no intention of using the within year makeup days and just want to tack on days to the end, so are moving the end date up to be able to tack on if the have to.

Yes, which is a logical thing to do rather than to pretend they're going to use the makeup days and then not do so and ask for a waiver to provide kids with below the minimum of 180 instructional days like they did this year.

I don't understand some of you selfish posters---whining about your individual beach vacations---when most MCPS kids aren't achieving basic standards for math and reading.

Fine, skip the start of school if you prioritize your beach vacation. But don't insist the rest of the county get dragged down with you because you're part of an entitled vocal minority who prioritizes their non-refundable vacation plans over educational outcomes for a much larger student population.

How is this the logical solution? How about MCPS actually follows through on the calendar it published? How is that not the logical solution? Just use the days it said it was going to. None of this playing around. Use them in order. If a snow day happens, the next makeup day automatically becomes a school day. Done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP: As an MCPS graduate and a current MCPS teacher of 19 years, this is the first time I have ever seen MCPS propose moving the first day of school earlier after the calendar had already been announced. It has always been understood that snow days would be used as originally advertised.

What snow days are you talking about? There was only 1 snow day allocated this year, yet MCPS used 6 of them. Last year MCPS also exceeded the number of snow days allocated and it was a mess with June half days (and this year was even worse). I hope you don't teach math or logic, because you seem not to be understanding that making the same mistakes annually and expecting a different result is pretty dumb.

MCPS has makeup days designated in their calendar and refused to use them. Specifically March 20, which happened to align with Eid and then April 15. They begrudgingly changed April 15 when they were backed into a corner and backed down on March 20 when a vocal part of the community went whining to Council about how unfair it was even though it had been designated as a makeup day in the calendar for over a year prior.

Next year MCPS similarly ALREADY has makeup days within the school year designated (along with the days after Juneteenth that the are now not allowed to use). If they actually use the days they have designated and not relied on the end of year ones they’d actually be in compliance with the new regs. But they’re admitting they have no intention of using the within year makeup days and just want to tack on days to the end, so are moving the end date up to be able to tack on if the have to.

Yes, which is a logical thing to do rather than to pretend they're going to use the makeup days and then not do so and ask for a waiver to provide kids with below the minimum of 180 instructional days like they did this year.

I don't understand some of you selfish posters---whining about your individual beach vacations---when most MCPS kids aren't achieving basic standards for math and reading.

Fine, skip the start of school if you prioritize your beach vacation. But don't insist the rest of the county get dragged down with you because you're part of an entitled vocal minority who prioritizes their non-refundable vacation plans over educational outcomes for a much larger student population.

How is this the logical solution? How about MCPS actually follows through on the calendar it published? How is that not the logical solution? Just use the days it said it was going to. None of this playing around. Use them in order. If a snow day happens, the next makeup day automatically becomes a school day. Done.

Yes, and maybe unicorns will fly. MCPS didn't open up until EIGHT DAYS after the snowcrete snowstorm this year. Enjoy whatever substance you've been smoking, because MCPS is notoriously slow to open after snowstorms, compared to neighboring districts. That's not going to change because you say so in an anonymous post on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many of these posts show a real empathy gap. It’s very disheartening. We all want our kids to go to school and we all want to be able to spend time with our families and observing religious occasions. And we need a calendar that doesn’t change multiple times.

The real culprit here is MCPS and the board that doesn’t exercise oversight.

This is a post that illustrates why the current calendar doesn't work. You want your kid to go to school, yet you want vacation time and yet you want MCPS to "observe religious occasions" and not use the makeup days that are allocated. The current calendar didn't provide for enough days to do all these things, so MCPS started earlier next year (similar to FCPS which has a similar number of religious holidays built into its calendar, but has more snow days built in than MCPS's 1 snow day.)

You can't have everything. If you haven't noticed--the last 2 years of the MCPS calendar have been a mess, because it snows, MCPS stays closed for many days, and kids get shortchanged education because MCPS doesn't want to lose its non-instructional days/grading days, teacher development days or religious holidays.

The only ones who win are MCPS staffers who are getting their same salaries to teach our kids less due to all these snow days that aren't compensated for adequately in the calendar.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I've worked in the system for over twenty years at the elementary level and here are my thoughts...

1) Nobody likes transition day except for Dr. Taylor. It's a waste of time and screws over the K, 6th, and 9th grade teachers.

2) I would be okay with having half-days for grading and reporting in MP 1 and 3. I do think our secondary counterparts need the full day at the end of MP 2 to prepare for their second semester classes.

3) SPED teachers need more IEP writing days given to them but that doesn't impact whether school is open or closed. There's already not enough time to handle the paperwork on our quarterly grading days.

4) When I did my admin program we were told we closed for Christian and Jewish holidays in order to be able to function as a school system. If we remained open, there wouldn't be enough staff to operate the building. While I appreciate the diversity in our county, I don't know what percentage of staff and students celebrate some of the recent holiday additions to our calendar. Perhaps allow everyone excused absences or leave that day.

I agree with this. They do not know if they need to close for operational reasons. Being open for religious holidays next year would let them collect data to determine whether there is an operational need to close moving forward -- another benefit of doing it.

DP. True, but aren't they only considering marking the religious holidays as potential makeup days, not as school days from the outset?

I don't think so. They would do this instead of starting school early, so those are days they would actually be open.

No, on the survey they sent out Thursday, the option is written as "Identifying days of religious observance as inclement weather makeup days."

Well, that's not what they say in the presentation. These are the three options:

Given the scheduled non-instructional days, three options or combinations of options are possible to meet new requirements to add capacity to address inclement weather closures:

1. Open school on non-instructional days that also are religious observances; allow excused absences and minimize instructional conflicts.

2. Reduce the length of Winter Break and/or Spring Break.

3. Start the school year earlier in August.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DT7SZF751736/$file/Proposed%20Amendments%202026-2027%20SY%20Calendar%20PPT%20260416.pdf

The superintendent is recommending the worst of the three options.

They mean that in the event of inclement weather closures requiring makeup days, they could open school on non-instructional days that are also religious observances.

That's not how I read it. The point is not to have to open school a week earlier. The way to do that is to open up on religious holidays instead.

Instead of opening earlier, they could keep the start as it currently is and convert religious days to school days if needed if they have too many snow days.

Exactly. The calendar they already have works if they actually use the days they’ve designated

It seems crazy to me that they won't do this. This is a no-brainer. I can't believe the superintendent instead is recommending starting school a week earlier.

Because when they dared to use Eid this year, a day that was already designated as a makeup day in the calendar the approved, they got backlash from a small part of the community who cried equity to Council so now they’re scared to go by what they’ve already said they would do.

I don't care. At a certain point, our kids need to be in school. MCPS needs to grow a pair and stand up to the county council. And if they designate all religious holidays, not just Muslim ones, as potential makeup days, Muslim residents will not feel targeted.

I don’t either. The sarcasm in my post I guess was not apparent… this whole thing is stupid. Kids need to be in school. We can’t cater to every individuals need to be off

Exactly this. All religious holidays should be potential make-up days. When the last snow day is used and it snows again, the next snow make-up day should be used to make it up. The process that we will use should be communicated now and the potential dates should be listed. At that point, the days used simply depend on when it snows and how long our snow days last. This makes it less personal - this process should not be perceived as personal - it is an operational decision on the part of a very large organization.

Lot simpler to just start school one week earlier. I understand the superintendent’s logic

Not for next year it's not.

Why not? Because you would rather be on vacation?

DP here

Yes! I would rather go on the beach vacation I spent time planning and have been looking forward to.

The world doesn't revolve around your beach vacation, Jan. You have 4 months to make new plans, or your kids can skip out on the first days of school.

Well Marcia, some of us make plans with extended family and others would also be impacted by this change with nonrefundable deposits. We made these plans after the calendar came out because oh I don’t know, you think you can relay on the calendar!

You chose to be cheap and make plans with non-refundable deposits knowing that the MCPS schedule shifted quite a bit over the last two years--were you hiding under a rock when the date of the last day of school changed several times this year? and last year? Most MCPS parents are not like you.

If by “cheap” you mean don’t have thousands of dollars to spend to change this vacation with siblings and grandparents then sure.

We’ve had students in the system for a dozen years and they have NEVER changed the first day of school after the calendar is set.

I hope your vitriol makes you happy.

Not as happy as you insisting that the world revolve around your family's beach plans seems to make you. MCPS needs to start earlier in August if it wants to maintain its professional development days, teacher non-instructional days and many religious holidays. Next year is as good a time as any. You have 4 months to adjust.

It’s not about individual vacations! It’s about adhering to a calendar that was published as final that people reasonably relied upon.

That bubble of superiority you live in must be amazing.

What county are you living in? It's certainly not MoCo. The MCPS school calendar changed a half a dozen time this year. It boggles the mind that you think it's "published as final" when it changed so often this year (and last year).

+1 This year was a hot mess. Use the Eid makeup day. Cancel use of the Eid makeup day. April 15 is a teacher non instructional day. Then it's not. And the last day of school? We're still getting questions on our PTA parent listserv asking if it's June 22, from those parents who haven't realized that MCPS got a pass to screw students out of 3 days of instruction this year.

I hope next year is better--starting earlier in August should help.

LOL and what about the parents who printed off the “final” 26-27 calendar that to this day is still on MCPS website as official and made plans around it and then end up missing the first week of school?

They have 4 months to adjust--that would be better than this year. And for some of us, actually having our kids get 180 days of instructional time is a big win, rather than seeing them get shortchanged again because of some fiction that MCPS is going to use makeup days they have no intention of using.

You must be really supportive of changing winter and spring break since everyone will have even more time to adjust!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP: As an MCPS graduate and a current MCPS teacher of 19 years, this is the first time I have ever seen MCPS propose moving the first day of school earlier after the calendar had already been announced. It has always been understood that snow days would be used as originally advertised.

What snow days are you talking about? There was only 1 snow day allocated this year, yet MCPS used 6 of them. Last year MCPS also exceeded the number of snow days allocated and it was a mess with June half days (and this year was even worse). I hope you don't teach math or logic, because you seem not to be understanding that making the same mistakes annually and expecting a different result is pretty dumb.

MCPS has makeup days designated in their calendar and refused to use them. Specifically March 20, which happened to align with Eid and then April 15. They begrudgingly changed April 15 when they were backed into a corner and backed down on March 20 when a vocal part of the community went whining to Council about how unfair it was even though it had been designated as a makeup day in the calendar for over a year prior.

Next year MCPS similarly ALREADY has makeup days within the school year designated (along with the days after Juneteenth that the are now not allowed to use). If they actually use the days they have designated and not relied on the end of year ones they’d actually be in compliance with the new regs. But they’re admitting they have no intention of using the within year makeup days and just want to tack on days to the end, so are moving the end date up to be able to tack on if the have to.

Yes, which is a logical thing to do rather than to pretend they're going to use the makeup days and then not do so and ask for a waiver to provide kids with below the minimum of 180 instructional days like they did this year.

I don't understand some of you selfish posters---whining about your individual beach vacations---when most MCPS kids aren't achieving basic standards for math and reading.

Fine, skip the start of school if you prioritize your beach vacation. But don't insist the rest of the county get dragged down with you because you're part of an entitled vocal minority who prioritizes their non-refundable vacation plans over educational outcomes for a much larger student population.

How is this the logical solution? How about MCPS actually follows through on the calendar it published? How is that not the logical solution? Just use the days it said it was going to. None of this playing around. Use them in order. If a snow day happens, the next makeup day automatically becomes a school day. Done.

Yes, and maybe unicorns will fly. MCPS didn't open up until EIGHT DAYS after the snowcrete snowstorm this year. Enjoy whatever substance you've been smoking, because MCPS is notoriously slow to open after snowstorms, compared to neighboring districts. That's not going to change because you say so in an anonymous post on DCUM.

MCPS is still able to get a waiver if it closes for that long or longer next year. Its solution is still tacking days on the end. Whether those days are before or after Juneteenth doesn’t change the fact that they are going to be wasted days. Just look at last year. It would be much better if they made the days up within the year, which is indeed what the state board said, too. I want them to do a full 180 days too but only if they actually try. The community pushing and pressuring them to follow their calendar should be the solution here

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Anonymous wrote:I've worked in the system for over twenty years at the elementary level and here are my thoughts...

1) Nobody likes transition day except for Dr. Taylor. It's a waste of time and screws over the K, 6th, and 9th grade teachers.

2) I would be okay with having half-days for grading and reporting in MP 1 and 3. I do think our secondary counterparts need the full day at the end of MP 2 to prepare for their second semester classes.

3) SPED teachers need more IEP writing days given to them but that doesn't impact whether school is open or closed. There's already not enough time to handle the paperwork on our quarterly grading days.

4) When I did my admin program we were told we closed for Christian and Jewish holidays in order to be able to function as a school system. If we remained open, there wouldn't be enough staff to operate the building. While I appreciate the diversity in our county, I don't know what percentage of staff and students celebrate some of the recent holiday additions to our calendar. Perhaps allow everyone excused absences or leave that day.

I agree with this. They do not know if they need to close for operational reasons. Being open for religious holidays next year would let them collect data to determine whether there is an operational need to close moving forward -- another benefit of doing it.

DP. True, but aren't they only considering marking the religious holidays as potential makeup days, not as school days from the outset?

I don't think so. They would do this instead of starting school early, so those are days they would actually be open.

No, on the survey they sent out Thursday, the option is written as "Identifying days of religious observance as inclement weather makeup days."

Well, that's not what they say in the presentation. These are the three options:

Given the scheduled non-instructional days, three options or combinations of options are possible to meet new requirements to add capacity to address inclement weather closures:

1. Open school on non-instructional days that also are religious observances; allow excused absences and minimize instructional conflicts.

2. Reduce the length of Winter Break and/or Spring Break.

3. Start the school year earlier in August.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DT7SZF751736/$file/Proposed%20Amendments%202026-2027%20SY%20Calendar%20PPT%20260416.pdf

The superintendent is recommending the worst of the three options.

They mean that in the event of inclement weather closures requiring makeup days, they could open school on non-instructional days that are also religious observances.

That's not how I read it. The point is not to have to open school a week earlier. The way to do that is to open up on religious holidays instead.

Instead of opening earlier, they could keep the start as it currently is and convert religious days to school days if needed if they have too many snow days.

Exactly. The calendar they already have works if they actually use the days they’ve designated

It seems crazy to me that they won't do this. This is a no-brainer. I can't believe the superintendent instead is recommending starting school a week earlier.

Because when they dared to use Eid this year, a day that was already designated as a makeup day in the calendar the approved, they got backlash from a small part of the community who cried equity to Council so now they’re scared to go by what they’ve already said they would do.

I don't care. At a certain point, our kids need to be in school. MCPS needs to grow a pair and stand up to the county council. And if they designate all religious holidays, not just Muslim ones, as potential makeup days, Muslim residents will not feel targeted.

I don’t either. The sarcasm in my post I guess was not apparent… this whole thing is stupid. Kids need to be in school. We can’t cater to every individuals need to be off

Exactly this. All religious holidays should be potential make-up days. When the last snow day is used and it snows again, the next snow make-up day should be used to make it up. The process that we will use should be communicated now and the potential dates should be listed. At that point, the days used simply depend on when it snows and how long our snow days last. This makes it less personal - this process should not be perceived as personal - it is an operational decision on the part of a very large organization.

Lot simpler to just start school one week earlier. I understand the superintendent’s logic

Not for next year it's not.

Why not? Because you would rather be on vacation?

DP here

Yes! I would rather go on the beach vacation I spent time planning and have been looking forward to.

The world doesn't revolve around your beach vacation, Jan. You have 4 months to make new plans, or your kids can skip out on the first days of school.

Well Marcia, some of us make plans with extended family and others would also be impacted by this change with nonrefundable deposits. We made these plans after the calendar came out because oh I don’t know, you think you can relay on the calendar!

You chose to be cheap and make plans with non-refundable deposits knowing that the MCPS schedule shifted quite a bit over the last two years--were you hiding under a rock when the date of the last day of school changed several times this year? and last year? Most MCPS parents are not like you.

If by “cheap” you mean don’t have thousands of dollars to spend to change this vacation with siblings and grandparents then sure.

We’ve had students in the system for a dozen years and they have NEVER changed the first day of school after the calendar is set.

I hope your vitriol makes you happy.

Not as happy as you insisting that the world revolve around your family's beach plans seems to make you. MCPS needs to start earlier in August if it wants to maintain its professional development days, teacher non-instructional days and many religious holidays. Next year is as good a time as any. You have 4 months to adjust.

It’s not about individual vacations! It’s about adhering to a calendar that was published as final that people reasonably relied upon.

That bubble of superiority you live in must be amazing.

What county are you living in? It's certainly not MoCo. The MCPS school calendar changed a half a dozen time this year. It boggles the mind that you think it's "published as final" when it changed so often this year (and last year).

+1 This year was a hot mess. Use the Eid makeup day. Cancel use of the Eid makeup day. April 15 is a teacher non instructional day. Then it's not. And the last day of school? We're still getting questions on our PTA parent listserv asking if it's June 22, from those parents who haven't realized that MCPS got a pass to screw students out of 3 days of instruction this year.

I hope next year is better--starting earlier in August should help.

LOL and what about the parents who printed off the “final” 26-27 calendar that to this day is still on MCPS website as official and made plans around it and then end up missing the first week of school?

They have 4 months to adjust--that would be better than this year. And for some of us, actually having our kids get 180 days of instructional time is a big win, rather than seeing them get shortchanged again because of some fiction that MCPS is going to use makeup days they have no intention of using.

You must be really supportive of changing winter and spring break since everyone will have even more time to adjust!

I don't care as long as MCPS stops with this BS of asking for waivers to not teach my kids 180 days each year. Maybe I will have vacation plans and be inconvenienced, maybe it won't affect my family--but at least they will be making an effort to actually teach them the way other school districts do.

Massachusetts schedules 184 days each year assuming so they won't have an issue hitting the 180-day requirement each year. MCPS schedules 181 days and then makes a surprised face each year when they come up short due to snow days and asks the states for waivers to shortchange our kids.

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Anonymous wrote:I've worked in the system for over twenty years at the elementary level and here are my thoughts...

1) Nobody likes transition day except for Dr. Taylor. It's a waste of time and screws over the K, 6th, and 9th grade teachers.

2) I would be okay with having half-days for grading and reporting in MP 1 and 3. I do think our secondary counterparts need the full day at the end of MP 2 to prepare for their second semester classes.

3) SPED teachers need more IEP writing days given to them but that doesn't impact whether school is open or closed. There's already not enough time to handle the paperwork on our quarterly grading days.

4) When I did my admin program we were told we closed for Christian and Jewish holidays in order to be able to function as a school system. If we remained open, there wouldn't be enough staff to operate the building. While I appreciate the diversity in our county, I don't know what percentage of staff and students celebrate some of the recent holiday additions to our calendar. Perhaps allow everyone excused absences or leave that day.

I agree with this. They do not know if they need to close for operational reasons. Being open for religious holidays next year would let them collect data to determine whether there is an operational need to close moving forward -- another benefit of doing it.

DP. True, but aren't they only considering marking the religious holidays as potential makeup days, not as school days from the outset?

I don't think so. They would do this instead of starting school early, so those are days they would actually be open.

No, on the survey they sent out Thursday, the option is written as "Identifying days of religious observance as inclement weather makeup days."

Well, that's not what they say in the presentation. These are the three options:

Given the scheduled non-instructional days, three options or combinations of options are possible to meet new requirements to add capacity to address inclement weather closures:

1. Open school on non-instructional days that also are religious observances; allow excused absences and minimize instructional conflicts.

2. Reduce the length of Winter Break and/or Spring Break.

3. Start the school year earlier in August.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DT7SZF751736/$file/Proposed%20Amendments%202026-2027%20SY%20Calendar%20PPT%20260416.pdf

The superintendent is recommending the worst of the three options.

They mean that in the event of inclement weather closures requiring makeup days, they could open school on non-instructional days that are also religious observances.

That's not how I read it. The point is not to have to open school a week earlier. The way to do that is to open up on religious holidays instead.

Instead of opening earlier, they could keep the start as it currently is and convert religious days to school days if needed if they have too many snow days.

Exactly. The calendar they already have works if they actually use the days they’ve designated

It seems crazy to me that they won't do this. This is a no-brainer. I can't believe the superintendent instead is recommending starting school a week earlier.

Because when they dared to use Eid this year, a day that was already designated as a makeup day in the calendar the approved, they got backlash from a small part of the community who cried equity to Council so now they’re scared to go by what they’ve already said they would do.

I don't care. At a certain point, our kids need to be in school. MCPS needs to grow a pair and stand up to the county council. And if they designate all religious holidays, not just Muslim ones, as potential makeup days, Muslim residents will not feel targeted.

I don’t either. The sarcasm in my post I guess was not apparent… this whole thing is stupid. Kids need to be in school. We can’t cater to every individuals need to be off

Exactly this. All religious holidays should be potential make-up days. When the last snow day is used and it snows again, the next snow make-up day should be used to make it up. The process that we will use should be communicated now and the potential dates should be listed. At that point, the days used simply depend on when it snows and how long our snow days last. This makes it less personal - this process should not be perceived as personal - it is an operational decision on the part of a very large organization.

Lot simpler to just start school one week earlier. I understand the superintendent’s logic

Not for next year it's not.

Why not? Because you would rather be on vacation?

DP here

Yes! I would rather go on the beach vacation I spent time planning and have been looking forward to.

The world doesn't revolve around your beach vacation, Jan. You have 4 months to make new plans, or your kids can skip out on the first days of school.

Well Marcia, some of us make plans with extended family and others would also be impacted by this change with nonrefundable deposits. We made these plans after the calendar came out because oh I don’t know, you think you can relay on the calendar!

You chose to be cheap and make plans with non-refundable deposits knowing that the MCPS schedule shifted quite a bit over the last two years--were you hiding under a rock when the date of the last day of school changed several times this year? and last year? Most MCPS parents are not like you.

If by “cheap” you mean don’t have thousands of dollars to spend to change this vacation with siblings and grandparents then sure.

We’ve had students in the system for a dozen years and they have NEVER changed the first day of school after the calendar is set.

I hope your vitriol makes you happy.

Not as happy as you insisting that the world revolve around your family's beach plans seems to make you. MCPS needs to start earlier in August if it wants to maintain its professional development days, teacher non-instructional days and many religious holidays. Next year is as good a time as any. You have 4 months to adjust.

It’s not about individual vacations! It’s about adhering to a calendar that was published as final that people reasonably relied upon.

That bubble of superiority you live in must be amazing.

What county are you living in? It's certainly not MoCo. The MCPS school calendar changed a half a dozen time this year. It boggles the mind that you think it's "published as final" when it changed so often this year (and last year).

+1 This year was a hot mess. Use the Eid makeup day. Cancel use of the Eid makeup day. April 15 is a teacher non instructional day. Then it's not. And the last day of school? We're still getting questions on our PTA parent listserv asking if it's June 22, from those parents who haven't realized that MCPS got a pass to screw students out of 3 days of instruction this year.

I hope next year is better--starting earlier in August should help.

LOL and what about the parents who printed off the “final” 26-27 calendar that to this day is still on MCPS website as official and made plans around it and then end up missing the first week of school?

They have 4 months to adjust--that would be better than this year. And for some of us, actually having our kids get 180 days of instructional time is a big win, rather than seeing them get shortchanged again because of some fiction that MCPS is going to use makeup days they have no intention of using.

You must be really supportive of changing winter and spring break since everyone will have even more time to adjust!

I don't care as long as MCPS stops with this BS of asking for waivers to not teach my kids 180 days each year. Maybe I will have vacation plans and be inconvenienced, maybe it won't affect my family--but at least they will be making an effort to actually teach them the way other school districts do.

Massachusetts schedules 184 days each year assuming so they won't have an issue hitting the 180-day requirement each year. MCPS schedules 181 days and then makes a surprised face each year when they come up short due to snow days and asks the states for waivers to shortchange our kids.

You do realize under the superintendents proposal, they’re still only scheduling 181 days, right? They’re moving both the start and end dates with makeup days potentially at the end…

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Anonymous wrote:To the PP: As an MCPS graduate and a current MCPS teacher of 19 years, this is the first time I have ever seen MCPS propose moving the first day of school earlier after the calendar had already been announced. It has always been understood that snow days would be used as originally advertised.

What snow days are you talking about? There was only 1 snow day allocated this year, yet MCPS used 6 of them. Last year MCPS also exceeded the number of snow days allocated and it was a mess with June half days (and this year was even worse). I hope you don't teach math or logic, because you seem not to be understanding that making the same mistakes annually and expecting a different result is pretty dumb.

MCPS has makeup days designated in their calendar and refused to use them. Specifically March 20, which happened to align with Eid and then April 15. They begrudgingly changed April 15 when they were backed into a corner and backed down on March 20 when a vocal part of the community went whining to Council about how unfair it was even though it had been designated as a makeup day in the calendar for over a year prior.

Next year MCPS similarly ALREADY has makeup days within the school year designated (along with the days after Juneteenth that the are now not allowed to use). If they actually use the days they have designated and not relied on the end of year ones they’d actually be in compliance with the new regs. But they’re admitting they have no intention of using the within year makeup days and just want to tack on days to the end, so are moving the end date up to be able to tack on if the have to.

Yes, which is a logical thing to do rather than to pretend they're going to use the makeup days and then not do so and ask for a waiver to provide kids with below the minimum of 180 instructional days like they did this year.

I don't understand some of you selfish posters---whining about your individual beach vacations---when most MCPS kids aren't achieving basic standards for math and reading.

Fine, skip the start of school if you prioritize your beach vacation. But don't insist the rest of the county get dragged down with you because you're part of an entitled vocal minority who prioritizes their non-refundable vacation plans over educational outcomes for a much larger student population.

How is this the logical solution? How about MCPS actually follows through on the calendar it published? How is that not the logical solution? Just use the days it said it was going to. None of this playing around. Use them in order. If a snow day happens, the next makeup day automatically becomes a school day. Done.

Yes, and maybe unicorns will fly. MCPS didn't open up until EIGHT DAYS after the snowcrete snowstorm this year. Enjoy whatever substance you've been smoking, because MCPS is notoriously slow to open after snowstorms, compared to neighboring districts. That's not going to change because you say so in an anonymous post on DCUM.

MCPS is still able to get a waiver if it closes for that long or longer next year. Its solution is still tacking days on the end. Whether those days are before or after Juneteenth doesn’t change the fact that they are going to be wasted days. Just look at last year. It would be much better if they made the days up within the year, which is indeed what the state board said, too. I want them to do a full 180 days too but only if they actually try. The community pushing and pressuring them to follow their calendar should be the solution here

+1000

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Anonymous wrote:I've worked in the system for over twenty years at the elementary level and here are my thoughts...

1) Nobody likes transition day except for Dr. Taylor. It's a waste of time and screws over the K, 6th, and 9th grade teachers.

2) I would be okay with having half-days for grading and reporting in MP 1 and 3. I do think our secondary counterparts need the full day at the end of MP 2 to prepare for their second semester classes.

3) SPED teachers need more IEP writing days given to them but that doesn't impact whether school is open or closed. There's already not enough time to handle the paperwork on our quarterly grading days.

4) When I did my admin program we were told we closed for Christian and Jewish holidays in order to be able to function as a school system. If we remained open, there wouldn't be enough staff to operate the building. While I appreciate the diversity in our county, I don't know what percentage of staff and students celebrate some of the recent holiday additions to our calendar. Perhaps allow everyone excused absences or leave that day.

I agree with this. They do not know if they need to close for operational reasons. Being open for religious holidays next year would let them collect data to determine whether there is an operational need to close moving forward -- another benefit of doing it.

DP. True, but aren't they only considering marking the religious holidays as potential makeup days, not as school days from the outset?

I don't think so. They would do this instead of starting school early, so those are days they would actually be open.

No, on the survey they sent out Thursday, the option is written as "Identifying days of religious observance as inclement weather makeup days."

Well, that's not what they say in the presentation. These are the three options:

Given the scheduled non-instructional days, three options or combinations of options are possible to meet new requirements to add capacity to address inclement weather closures:

1. Open school on non-instructional days that also are religious observances; allow excused absences and minimize instructional conflicts.

2. Reduce the length of Winter Break and/or Spring Break.

3. Start the school year earlier in August.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DT7SZF751736/$file/Proposed%20Amendments%202026-2027%20SY%20Calendar%20PPT%20260416.pdf

The superintendent is recommending the worst of the three options.

They mean that in the event of inclement weather closures requiring makeup days, they could open school on non-instructional days that are also religious observances.

That's not how I read it. The point is not to have to open school a week earlier. The way to do that is to open up on religious holidays instead.

Instead of opening earlier, they could keep the start as it currently is and convert religious days to school days if needed if they have too many snow days.

Exactly. The calendar they already have works if they actually use the days they’ve designated

It seems crazy to me that they won't do this. This is a no-brainer. I can't believe the superintendent instead is recommending starting school a week earlier.

Because when they dared to use Eid this year, a day that was already designated as a makeup day in the calendar the approved, they got backlash from a small part of the community who cried equity to Council so now they’re scared to go by what they’ve already said they would do.

I don't care. At a certain point, our kids need to be in school. MCPS needs to grow a pair and stand up to the county council. And if they designate all religious holidays, not just Muslim ones, as potential makeup days, Muslim residents will not feel targeted.

I don’t either. The sarcasm in my post I guess was not apparent… this whole thing is stupid. Kids need to be in school. We can’t cater to every individuals need to be off

Exactly this. All religious holidays should be potential make-up days. When the last snow day is used and it snows again, the next snow make-up day should be used to make it up. The process that we will use should be communicated now and the potential dates should be listed. At that point, the days used simply depend on when it snows and how long our snow days last. This makes it less personal - this process should not be perceived as personal - it is an operational decision on the part of a very large organization.

Lot simpler to just start school one week earlier. I understand the superintendent’s logic

Not for next year it's not.

Why not? Because you would rather be on vacation?

DP here

Yes! I would rather go on the beach vacation I spent time planning and have been looking forward to.

The world doesn't revolve around your beach vacation, Jan. You have 4 months to make new plans, or your kids can skip out on the first days of school.

Well Marcia, some of us make plans with extended family and others would also be impacted by this change with nonrefundable deposits. We made these plans after the calendar came out because oh I don’t know, you think you can relay on the calendar!

You chose to be cheap and make plans with non-refundable deposits knowing that the MCPS schedule shifted quite a bit over the last two years--were you hiding under a rock when the date of the last day of school changed several times this year? and last year? Most MCPS parents are not like you.

If by “cheap” you mean don’t have thousands of dollars to spend to change this vacation with siblings and grandparents then sure.

We’ve had students in the system for a dozen years and they have NEVER changed the first day of school after the calendar is set.

I hope your vitriol makes you happy.

Not as happy as you insisting that the world revolve around your family's beach plans seems to make you. MCPS needs to start earlier in August if it wants to maintain its professional development days, teacher non-instructional days and many religious holidays. Next year is as good a time as any. You have 4 months to adjust.

And you think it’s just one person who has made plans?

What happens to teachers if they don’t show up for the first few days of preservice week? Can they use PTO for those?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I've worked in the system for over twenty years at the elementary level and here are my thoughts...

1) Nobody likes transition day except for Dr. Taylor. It's a waste of time and screws over the K, 6th, and 9th grade teachers.

2) I would be okay with having half-days for grading and reporting in MP 1 and 3. I do think our secondary counterparts need the full day at the end of MP 2 to prepare for their second semester classes.

3) SPED teachers need more IEP writing days given to them but that doesn't impact whether school is open or closed. There's already not enough time to handle the paperwork on our quarterly grading days.

4) When I did my admin program we were told we closed for Christian and Jewish holidays in order to be able to function as a school system. If we remained open, there wouldn't be enough staff to operate the building. While I appreciate the diversity in our county, I don't know what percentage of staff and students celebrate some of the recent holiday additions to our calendar. Perhaps allow everyone excused absences or leave that day.

I agree with this. They do not know if they need to close for operational reasons. Being open for religious holidays next year would let them collect data to determine whether there is an operational need to close moving forward -- another benefit of doing it.

DP. True, but aren't they only considering marking the religious holidays as potential makeup days, not as school days from the outset?

I don't think so. They would do this instead of starting school early, so those are days they would actually be open.

No, on the survey they sent out Thursday, the option is written as "Identifying days of religious observance as inclement weather makeup days."

Well, that's not what they say in the presentation. These are the three options:

Given the scheduled non-instructional days, three options or combinations of options are possible to meet new requirements to add capacity to address inclement weather closures:

1. Open school on non-instructional days that also are religious observances; allow excused absences and minimize instructional conflicts.

2. Reduce the length of Winter Break and/or Spring Break.

3. Start the school year earlier in August.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DT7SZF751736/$file/Proposed%20Amendments%202026-2027%20SY%20Calendar%20PPT%20260416.pdf

The superintendent is recommending the worst of the three options.

They mean that in the event of inclement weather closures requiring makeup days, they could open school on non-instructional days that are also religious observances.

That's not how I read it. The point is not to have to open school a week earlier. The way to do that is to open up on religious holidays instead.

Instead of opening earlier, they could keep the start as it currently is and convert religious days to school days if needed if they have too many snow days.

Exactly. The calendar they already have works if they actually use the days they’ve designated

It seems crazy to me that they won't do this. This is a no-brainer. I can't believe the superintendent instead is recommending starting school a week earlier.

Because when they dared to use Eid this year, a day that was already designated as a makeup day in the calendar the approved, they got backlash from a small part of the community who cried equity to Council so now they’re scared to go by what they’ve already said they would do.

I don't care. At a certain point, our kids need to be in school. MCPS needs to grow a pair and stand up to the county council. And if they designate all religious holidays, not just Muslim ones, as potential makeup days, Muslim residents will not feel targeted.

I don’t either. The sarcasm in my post I guess was not apparent… this whole thing is stupid. Kids need to be in school. We can’t cater to every individuals need to be off

Exactly this. All religious holidays should be potential make-up days. When the last snow day is used and it snows again, the next snow make-up day should be used to make it up. The process that we will use should be communicated now and the potential dates should be listed. At that point, the days used simply depend on when it snows and how long our snow days last. This makes it less personal - this process should not be perceived as personal - it is an operational decision on the part of a very large organization.

Lot simpler to just start school one week earlier. I understand the superintendent’s logic

Not for next year it's not.

Why not? Because you would rather be on vacation?

DP here

Yes! I would rather go on the beach vacation I spent time planning and have been looking forward to.

The world doesn't revolve around your beach vacation, Jan. You have 4 months to make new plans, or your kids can skip out on the first days of school.

Well Marcia, some of us make plans with extended family and others would also be impacted by this change with nonrefundable deposits. We made these plans after the calendar came out because oh I don’t know, you think you can relay on the calendar!

You chose to be cheap and make plans with non-refundable deposits knowing that the MCPS schedule shifted quite a bit over the last two years--were you hiding under a rock when the date of the last day of school changed several times this year? and last year? Most MCPS parents are not like you.

If by “cheap” you mean don’t have thousands of dollars to spend to change this vacation with siblings and grandparents then sure.

We’ve had students in the system for a dozen years and they have NEVER changed the first day of school after the calendar is set.

I hope your vitriol makes you happy.

Not as happy as you insisting that the world revolve around your family's beach plans seems to make you. MCPS needs to start earlier in August if it wants to maintain its professional development days, teacher non-instructional days and many religious holidays. Next year is as good a time as any. You have 4 months to adjust.

It’s not about individual vacations! It’s about adhering to a calendar that was published as final that people reasonably relied upon.

That bubble of superiority you live in must be amazing.

What county are you living in? It's certainly not MoCo. The MCPS school calendar changed a half a dozen time this year. It boggles the mind that you think it's "published as final" when it changed so often this year (and last year).

+1 This year was a hot mess. Use the Eid makeup day. Cancel use of the Eid makeup day. April 15 is a teacher non instructional day. Then it's not. And the last day of school? We're still getting questions on our PTA parent listserv asking if it's June 22, from those parents who haven't realized that MCPS got a pass to screw students out of 3 days of instruction this year.

I hope next year is better--starting earlier in August should help.

LOL and what about the parents who printed off the “final” 26-27 calendar that to this day is still on MCPS website as official and made plans around it and then end up missing the first week of school?

They have 4 months to adjust--that would be better than this year. And for some of us, actually having our kids get 180 days of instructional time is a big win, rather than seeing them get shortchanged again because of some fiction that MCPS is going to use makeup days they have no intention of using.

You must be really supportive of changing winter and spring break since everyone will have even more time to adjust!

I don't care as long as MCPS stops with this BS of asking for waivers to not teach my kids 180 days each year. Maybe I will have vacation plans and be inconvenienced, maybe it won't affect my family--but at least they will be making an effort to actually teach them the way other school districts do.

Massachusetts schedules 184 days each year assuming so they won't have an issue hitting the 180-day requirement each year. MCPS schedules 181 days and then makes a surprised face each year when they come up short due to snow days and asks the states for waivers to shortchange our kids.

You do realize under the superintendents proposal, they’re still only scheduling 181 days, right? They’re moving both the start and end dates with makeup days potentially at the end…

You do realize that will make it much more likely to actually hit 180 days don't you? Since MCPS had no intention to use the religious holiday makeup days or the teacher grading day makeup days--they will actually use the ones in June rather than only offering our kids 177 days again.