After tacking on more school days to make up for earlier snow days, Montgomery County Public Schools announced another change to the school calendar.
In a social media post, the Maryland school system said April 15 will now be an early-release day for students. That day was initially planned as a “noninstructional day” for teacher grading and planning only.
Friday, March 20, will remain a “noninstructional day.”
The Montgomery County schools previously added five instructional days to the end of the school year, making June 26 the last day of classes. The move was made to fulfill the state’s mandated number of instructional days.
The latest message from school officials went out before Monday, when classes were dismissed early due to forecast severe weather.
The school system’s message to families suggested this may not be the end of changes to the calendar for this school year.
“There will likely be another message about our calendar before Spring Break,” the statement said, adding the school system was in contact with the Maryland State Department of Education regarding its request to waive the state’s 180-day requirement.
Parents have been critical of the handling of the school system’s weather contingency plans.
Members of seven parent teacher student associations in the Richard Montgomery Cluster sent a letter to the Board of Education and Superintendent Thomas Taylor asking them to “revisit” the 2026-2027 school calendar.
“MCPS has repeatedly demonstrated poor calendar planning, particularly around predictable weather closures,” their letter said.
The PTSA members asked the school system to include what they called a “sufficient number” of contingency days in the 2026-2027 school calendar, and asked that make-up days not be scheduled after Memorial Day.
“Administrators, educators, students and parent/caregivers all know that very little, if any, real learning happens in mid to late June,” they said.
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