The PG County public schools' 2016-2017 school year has been extended – Students and teachers will have to wait a little while longer before school is out.
Prince Georges County schools announced on Thursday, May 18 that the official last day of the school year has been changed so the county can make up previously scheduled days missed early in the calendar school year. The County sent out an email and text messages to parents alerting them of the change and apologizing for the late notice, which was caused by a grant waiver refusal by the State. County schools had been making an effort to obtain a waiver from the Maryland State Board of Education and learned Thursday that the waiver would not be granted. The date change comes as during March of this year the school system had two emergency closings, one for students and staff and one only for students. The change means that students will have to be in classes for two more days than originally planned while teachers will have to work one extra day.
The waiver refused by the State Board of Education that led to the late announcement would have allowed schools to close on June 9 for students and June 12 for teachers despite the emergency closures of March. Instead, the academic year of 2016-2017 has been revised so that classes will end on June 13 and schools will be letting out two hours early on the last three days of classes –June 9, June 12 and June 13 – so teachers can complete grading and other year end tasks. While the announced dates are confirmed, any emergency closures in the weeks ahead may affect the official close dates.
The state law in Maryland requires that students attend and are in schools for a minimum of 180 days each year. The missed days stemmed from the "Day without the Woman" protest and a late winter snowfall.
What do you think of the schedule change? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.