House delegation adopts holiday amendments including Juneteenth but rejects mandatory school-holiday bill

Delegates on the Howard County House delegation on Feb. 3, 2025, adopted an amendment package to HOCO 10-25 that added Juneteenth to a list of recognized school holidays and clarified that the proposed closures would apply to students only. After debate on constitutional questions and on whether the local Board of Education should retain control of the school calendar, the delegation voted on the amended bill and it failed 4–3.

What the amendment package did: The consolidated amendment combined earlier changes and made three principal modifications described during the meeting: (1) clarified that school closures under the bill would apply to students only, not necessarily to staff; (2) removed language that limited a holiday’s observance to when it “begins on a weekday”; and (3) added Juneteenth to the list of holidays.

Legal and constitutional concerns:…