On Wednesday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed an executive order requiring all schools to begin classes after the Labor Day holiday, effective at the start of the 2017-2018 school year.
Advertisement
“Going back to school after Labor Day is a good idea”, Thomas said.
“Miller, a Democrat, says it would have been more appropriate for the Republican governor to push for legislation and work with education experts and local officials around the state. Seventy-two percent support a statewide mandate requiring schools to start after the Labor Day holiday; 19 percent oppose it”.
“This is long overdue and it is simply the right thing to do”, Hogan said.
The order includes a provision allowing districts to seek a waiver from the State Board of Education if they can provide “compelling justification as to why they should be exempted” from a post-Labor Day start date.
Additionally, snow days could be built into the calendar. Depending on the year, Carroll has also given students and teachers off a few days before or after the winter break, so a day or two could be made up there too.
1, to the post-Labor Day school start mandate issued by Gov. Larry Hogan.
There will be a waiver option for school systems that do not want to comply, he said, administered through the state board of education.
“As the state’s chief fiscal officer, the post-Labor Day school start will be a tremendous economic boost for our small businesses, restaurants, shops, and hotels, so many of whom heavily depend on Maryland’s thriving tourism industry and the economic activity during the summer months”, Franchot said.
“I’m disappointed at yesterday’s announcement”, Wagner said.
“The action that we are taking today will help protect the traditional end of summer, not only for families on vacation this week but also for the teachers and the students” across Maryland, Hogan said.
Board of Education Vice President Walter Palmer III said at that meeting he was initially disappointed to see neither draft calendar started after Labor Day as Franchot had proposed earlier in 2013, but after hearing the explanation, he agreed it was not possible. Now, students also take tests to assess whether their school districts and their teachers are doing their jobs. MCPS spokesman Derek Turner said Wednesday afternoon the school system wasn’t prepared to discuss whether it would apply for a waiver next year. “We’ll have to find a way to fit the required number of days into the new school year”. But lawmakers have said that Hogan’s increases are the minimum required by state law and are due exclusively to rises in enrollment and other factors.
“A later start date will even prevent Baltimore County.from losing so many days of school due to heat-related closures”, he said.
Advertisement
There’s no evidence to support claims that students actually learn and remember more in one week than another, or that they would be more refreshed returning to school the last week of August rather than the first week of September.
