WASHINGTON — Montgomery County’s school officials are looking at bringing the kids back to school a week earlier in 2017.
The Montgomery County School Board has come up with a proposed calendar that would have classes starting on Aug. 21 next year. County school spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala said the earlier start time will “maximize instructional time.”
Onijala said the actual number of school days won’t change, but by shifting the calendar by one week, kids — and teachers — would get a jump on preparing for the PARCC exams in May. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career exams are given to students in grades five through eight and at the secondary level in Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and English 10.
The school system is asking for community input on the proposed change to the school calendar, and so far, with more than 1,000 responses, Onijala said the reaction is mixed.
“Some parents wonder ‘Hey! What’s happening to summer vacation?!’ Other parents say ‘Hey, it’s great, let’s get kids in school learning as soon as possible,'” Onijala says.
Under the proposal, the calendar would have 184 days — including 4 makeup days in case of inclement weather. And the last day of school for the 2017-2018 school year would fall on June 5.
Details on the proposed changes can be seen here.
