State waives snow days for Montgomery County schools
Barring another emergency closing, school year will end on time June 16
State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick granted a five-day waiver to Montgomery County Public Schools on Tuesday, which means the system will not have to make up any of the snow days it used last month. Back-to-back blizzards forced officials to keep county schools closed for a week.
Barring any weather emergencies this school year, classes will end on time June 16.
Montgomery County school officials set aside four days on the calendar in case they had to shut down for inclement weather. So far, they have used nine snow days.
The state school board approved a plan in February to allow local school systems the option of waiving up to five days they would have had to make up because of the snowfall.
Under the state plan, school systems in Maryland can waive up to five days from their school calendars, contingent on their superintendents submitting a plan to Grasmick to show how they adjusted their calendars to ensure student instruction.
School systems also had expressed concern about the 180-day requirement because the missed days caused them to lose preparation time for the Maryland School Assessments, which are given each March to third- through eighth-graders throughout the state.
The administration of the MSAs began March 8.