There may not be as much time as you think between Virginia’s three-day sales tax holiday this weekend and the start of school.
Virginia’s combined sales-tax relief Friday, Saturday and Sunday covers low-cost school supplies, many clothes and emergency preparedness items. Though it may be the first weekend in August, some students have only a few more days left before the start of school.
The first school system in Virginia to start classes at schools on regular calendars is Winchester, with school starting this Thursday, Aug. 8.
Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Orange and Culpeper counties are among public school systems that start just a few days later on Monday, Aug. 12.
Students in Maryland have more time, under new state rules requiring school starts after Labor Day. Virginia moved the other way this year, relaxing restrictions on pre-Labor Day starts.
Maryland’s sales tax break on clothes is scheduled to run Aug. 11-17.
D.C. no longer has a sales tax holiday.
School start dates
The following are scheduled first days of school for students at Virginia public schools using traditional calendars:
- Aug. 8 — Winchester
- Aug. 12 — Fredericksburg City and Culpeper, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Orange, Warren and King George counties
- Aug. 14 — Rappahannock and Fauquier counties
- Aug. 15 — Frederick County
- Aug. 19 — Manassas City
- Aug. 20 — Clarke County
- Aug. 22 — Loudoun County
- Aug. 26 — Manassas Park, and Fairfax and Prince William counties
- Sept. 3 — Arlington County, and Alexandria and Falls Church cities
Aug. 19 is the start date for Jefferson County, West Virginia.
Aug. 26 is the start date for D.C. Public Schools.
In Maryland, Sept. 3 is the start date for Charles, St. Mary’s, Prince George’s, Calvert, Anne Arundel (grades 1-5, 6, 9 only), Montgomery, Howard, Frederick, Washington, Carroll and Baltimore counties, and Baltimore City.
It’s Sept. 4 in Anne Arundel County for all other grades.
