Comptroller Franchot, left, and Gov. Hogan. Photo credit John Patterson.
Standing on the Ocean City boardwalk, Gov. Larry Hogan signed an executive order today mandating that Maryland public schools wait until after Labor Day to start school. The order also requires that the school year not extend past June 15.
He was joined by Comptroller Peter Franchot, who has long advocated for a later start date.
“This isn’t just a family issue, it’s an economic and public-safety issue. And it’s an issue that draws strong bipartisan support among an overwhelming majority of Marylanders,” Hogan said of moving the school year to a post-Labor Day start. “And in just a few moments I will sign an executive order to finally make it a reality in our state.”
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller told The Baltimore Sun that the executive order “legally questionable.” It is set to go into effect for the 2017-18 school year.
Baltimore County school Superintendent Dallas Dance told WYPR that Hogan’s order could shorten students’ breaks.
“School systems will have to look at the number of days within those breaks which include spring break, too,” Dance said.
Currently each district can set its own dates. The state does require, however, that students be in school for 180 days. A bill in the General Assembly to require a post-Labor Day start date has failed for the past two years in a row.
Hogan said school systems can apply for a waiver from the Maryland State Department of Education to be exempt from the post-Labor Day start date. [pullquote]”Funny thing: I was thinking that because we’d have to pay more for extra weeks of camp, we might not be able to afford our week at the beach,” a Baltimore mother said on Facebook. “So how you like me now, Ocean City?”[/pullquote]
The Bureau of Revenue Estimates has said that starting after Labor Day would generate more than $74 million in economic activity.
Many parents on social media were thrilled with the news, while others noted it would mean paying for more childcare.
“Funny thing: I was thinking that because we’d have to pay more for extra weeks of camp, we might not be able to afford our week at the beach,” my friend said on Facebook. “So how you like me now, Ocean City?”
In the past, school superintendents have resisted the idea of a state-mandated start date. Because schools must be in session 180 days, many parents and teachers had worried that starting after Labor Day would require the school year to extend into late June. Others have argued that Baltimore County has too many professional days built in to its schedule and that if some were cut, a post-Labor Day start would not extend the school year.
Patricia O’Neill, a member of Montgomery County’s school board, told The Washington Post earlier this week that she wants Attorney General Brian E. Frosh to give an opinion as whether the governor has the authority to impose a start date.
“It is so counter to the idea of local control,” she told the Post. “I am infuriated with the prospect of the governor messing and meddling with what school systems deem best for children.”
-Kristine Henry
Does Governor Hogan have a child in public school?. Most likely not, if he did he would know how many days children can miss especially once winter snow rolls around, accompanied by insufficient heat in schools, not to mention a many of teacher professional development days.. The State knew full well when the school year would begin and simply were not prepared. PERIOD-
The Parents were ready, the Principles were ready, the Teachers were ready, the Children were ready!!. Do Your Job–
Please correct me if I’m wrong but I did a quick calculation. There are 204 weekdays between June 15th, 2017 and Labor Day, 2018. With Spring and Winter Break plus religious/national holidays adding up to about 21days that makes 183 days in which to meet the required 180 days of school. Giving school districts exactly 3 days of wiggle room to accommodate all the heat/snow closings and exactly 0 days for any grade marking time for teachers. I think you can see the problem here. Is my math way off because this seems like a highly unreasonable and undue burden for the Governor to put on school districts.
If Maryland stopped all of the testing and stopped using common core, even more could be accomplished in this smaller windows of time. And bonus- less stressed out students and school employees.
Wow!! Stunning! Wonder how it will all shake out…