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Howard County board approves calendar plan to make up five snow days
Summary
The Howard County Board of Education voted 6–2 to adopt ‘Option 2’ to recover five inclement-weather days: use June 16–18 as scheduled and add school days April 6 (full), April 15 (half) and May 14 (convert to full), and make next week (March 3) a full day. The student member, staff and MSDE guidance shaped the proposal.
The Howard County Board of Education on Feb. 26 adopted a plan to make up five inclement-weather days and two hours of high-school instruction lost this winter. Miss Watts moved the measure and Dr. Chen seconded it; the motion passed 6–2.
The adopted Option 2 uses the three days already built into the calendar — June 16–18 — and adds April 6 (Easter Monday) as a full school day, designates April 15 as a half day for students (a professional learning day for staff converted to a half day for students), makes May 14 a full day and converts March 3 into a full instructional day. Brian Bassett, the district communications director, told the board that MSDE had told the district that Easter Monday could be used as a makeup day.
Student member Aaron Alastair framed the student perspective in the discussion, telling the board that he and district leaders had discussed assessment practices and school calendars and that “we were in favor of phasing out traditional midterms for several key reasons,” including alignment with classroom priorities and student well-being. Superintendent Barnes emphasized that no final decision on midterm exams had been made and said the calendar change would be implemented through the usual board and committee processes.
Board members debated trade-offs: adding minutes or hours to the school day, transportation logistics and the equity implications of selecting religious or cultural dates as makeup days. Transportation staff and the district’s attorney and HR liaisons described operational impacts: for example, MSDE confirmed that extending high-school days by small amounts (two or five minutes) can count toward required hours if notified.
The board directed staff to implement the chosen option and to return with timeline and communications for families and bargaining units. The vote was recorded as Yes: Chen, Ricks, Watts, Allister, Chamblee, Mallow; No: McCoy, Mosley.
The district said the last day of school under this option will move to June 18 and noted that the decision preserves previously scheduled holidays and avoids placing the last day on Juneteenth.
