MCPS releases four preliminary 2026–27 calendar drafts after early survey with nearly 7,000 responses

Montgomery County Public Schools presented four working drafts of the 2026–27 school calendar on Sept. 16, saying early public-survey results and committee input will guide final proposals that the board will consider in December.

Kat Melchodi, executive director for district operations, told the Policy Management Committee that the calendar-development process follows board policy IDA and Maryland State Department of Education guidelines and that the district had released a short survey on Sept. 3. “As of about a half hour ago we have almost 7,000 responses,” Melchodi said, adding that about 1,100 free-text comments have been collected and are being reviewed.

Why it matters: the calendar affects instructional hours, staffing and support services, and community schedules. Melchodi said the survey asked three focused questions to narrow options: preferred first-week start relative to Labor Day, whether to add Dec. 23 as a holiday, and which week to schedule spring break.

Most-cited early results: about 60% of respondents favored starting the school year the week immediately before Labor Day (the week of Aug. 31, 2026, in staff drafts), and roughly 32% favored starting two weeks earlier. On winter break, about 75% of respondents so far favored including Dec. 23 as a day off. For spring break, about 60% preferred the later week option rather than an earlier spring break or splitting the break into two shorter pauses.

Melchodi emphasized operational constraints that shape draft calendars: Maryland law requires observance of certain days around Easter and the district must meet minimum instructional-day and credit-hour requirements. She noted one existing draft includes only one built-in inclement-weather day and that the district must submit a worksheet to the state confirming both days and required credit hours after a calendar is adopted.

Staff presented four compact working drafts: two drafts (A and B) start the week of Aug. 31 and differ by early vs. later spring break; two others (C and D) mirror this year’s start the week of Aug. 24 and end earlier in June. Melchodi said the drafts are intentionally similar to let the committee focus on start/end timing rather than multiple moving parts.

Public and stakeholder engagement: Melchodi described an outreach plan that includes the online survey (available in multiple languages via the district site), calendar committee focus groups, social media, and targeted meetings with student groups, school-based governance bodies and partner organizations. She said the district has invited stakeholders—such as the agricultural fair staff—to calendar committee meetings; staff confirmed fair dates (Aug. 14–22, 2026) and said those dates fit the current draft options.

Next steps: staff will close the survey, analyze responses and return to the board and the policy committee with a memo containing full survey data and recommended draft calendars in October. The board will consider adoption in December.

Context and limits: Melchodi noted previous debate over two-week winter breaks and recalled operational challenges for support staff and student services in a full two-week closure. She also said the district previously paused plans for a two-year calendar to give a newly seated board time to review the process; staff did not commit to a multi-year calendar and said they would report back on how to restart that work if the board desires.

Melchodi and committee members asked for additional detail in October, including attendance and chronic-absence rates in late-June days, comparisons to neighboring jurisdictions, the number of built-in inclement-weather days, and language-access participation rates. “Just encourage you to keep pushing it out until you get responses in those languages that are reflective of the community,” Committee Member Brenda Wolf said.

The committee did not take a vote on the calendar itself; it directed staff to return with full survey results and draft calendars for board consideration.