Update: The Board of Education voted Tuesday to eliminate the heat-closure policy.
You might remember that on Aug. 9 last year, the Baltimore County Board of Education approved a policy that said BCPS must announce the closure of all schools without air conditioning if the heat index was forecast to reach 90 degrees at any time the following day.
Three weeks later, the board revised the policy to say that schools should only be closed if the forecast said temperatures would reach 90 degrees by 11:00 in the morning.
Now, as The Baltimore Sun is reporting, the board is set to vote tonight on eliminating the heat-closure policy altogether and once again leave the decision to close up to Superintendent Dallas Dance. Part of the reason for the change is concern that too many after-school sports or end-of-year activities could be disrupted.
The group BCPS Parents and Teachers for Equitable Facilities & Portable AC have started a petition that calls on the school board to keep the policy in place.