MCPS released its calendar for the 2020-2021 school year which reveals a sudden change that may not be very welcome news for students. According to the MCPS press release, in 2020-2021 students will move back to beginning school before Labor Day as the first day of classes is slated for Monday, August 31, 2020.
In a long discussion by the Board of Education and other elected officials, the board finalized a calendar that they feel provides the mandated amount of instructional days for teachers and students, and that takes into consideration days off for religious holidays.
According to Washington Post reporter Donna St. George, one issue that was of concern to Muslim parents was a conflict between the holiday of Eid al-Fitr and AP testing. “Helping to clear the way was a decision by the College Board to create extra testing options: Advanced Placement tests planned for May 13 would be given a second time, on May 18, to support students observing the holiday…” reported St. George. “Muslim parents and students had pressed for the day off, citing the holiday’s importance and issues of fairness.”
As far as other days off, the new MCPS calendar calls for days off to coincide with two Jewish holidays and a string of days around Christmas and Easter.
The change back to starting before Labor Day comes on the heels of the state legislature’s override of Governor Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill that undid Hogan’s 2016 Executive Order, which mandated that schools begin after Labor Day and end classes no later than June 15th.