MCPS will not start the 2026-2027 school year earlier than expected
County school board votes to add instructional days in winter after survey pushback
By
Ashlyn CampbellMay 1, 2026 6:37 p.m.
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The Montgomery County school board voted on Thursday to add instructional days in November and December during the 2026-2027 academic year after a community survey indicated that the alternative—starting the calendar five days earlier—was a less popular choice.
“There’s no perfect calendar,” Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Thomas Taylor told the board at the Thursday meeting. “One of the things that surfaced in feedback was the idea of looking at an earlier start, but not one with such short notice. … We agree that that that it’s a little too late to make those kind of changes.”
The 2026-2027 school year is set to begin Aug. 25 with a transition day on Aug. 24, aligning with a previous December decision to begin the school year on Aug. 25. The last day of school is schedule to be an early release day on June 11.
The district will add three instructional days – Nov. 9, which was a non-instructional day in observance of Diwali; an early release day on Nov. 25, which was previously a school closure prior to Thanksgiving; and an early release day on Dec. 23, another previously scheduled closure due to winter break.
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The district also identified several makeup days, including April 22, which aligns with Passover, May 17, which aligns with Eid al-Adha, and June 11, June 14-17, if inclement weather occurs.
After a community survey, Taylor said Thursday that many families pushed back on the earlier start date. According to school board documents, feedback “expressed significant concerns” due to plans already being in place and organizations providing camps and other recreational activities during that time.
The board voted to adopt the changes in a 7-1 vote. Board member Rita Montoya was the sole vote against the decision, citing concerns over early release days not being “meaningful days of instruction” and the Latino community’s celebration of Christmas on Dec. 24.
She noted that she and board member Grace Rivera-Oven “fought really hard for that this year, because you cannot travel to see your family. You cannot prepare the meals we make, [which] take a long time.
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“We often say here at this table that even if you don’t make it to the board, etc., that we are still going to consider your concerns and the things that your community needs. And so I don’t feel like we did that here.”
In December the school board approved a 2026-2027 academic calendar, with classes set to begin Aug. 25 and end June 16, 2027. On April 16, Taylor proposed a change that would shift the first day of school on Aug. 20 with a transition day on Aug. 19 and ending on June 11, 2027.
The April 16 proposal to start the school year earlier – Aug. 20 rather than Aug. 25 – came after new guidance about school calendars from the Maryland State Board of Education.
Winter break was scheduled for Dec. 23 until Jan. 3, 2027 – 12 school days, including weekends. A 10-day spring break, including weekends, was set to occur from March 26, 2027, until April 4, 2027. The number of days off for each break was the same as in the 2025-2026 calendar.
The state school board adopted March 24 a resolution that updated guidance for calendar and inclement weather planning for school boards across the state, according to an April 16 presentation to the board by MCPS staff.
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According to the resolution, districts can no longer extend the academic year beyond June 19, or Juneteenth; must embed and identify makeup days throughout the school year with options in the spring semester; and must adopt a contingency plan that includes three makeup days followed by virtual instruction or six makeup days.
The district recently adopted a virtual learning plan to offer on snow days after the state education board issued a mandate for all school systems to develop virtual learning plans for extended inclement weather.
The calendar guidance changes limited how MCPS can adjust its previously adopted calendar, MCPS staff said at the April 16 meeting.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine