Subcommittee approves emergency amendment letting MCPS count hours to make up snow days

The Elections, Education and Housing Subcommittee voted to pass MC 14 as amended, giving Montgomery County Public Schools emergency authority to use instructional hours — rather than strictly days — to meet state-required instructional time for the current school year in order to address snow-day make-up challenges.

Chair read amendments proposed by Chair Polakovich Carr that narrow the bill to snow-day flexibility, make it an emergency measure so the authority could be used this school year, and add a sunset date to address concerns from members outside Montgomery County. The chair summarized that ‘‘the amendments offered by chair Polakovich Carr make clear that the flexibility MCPS is seeking is solely about making up snow days’’ and that the amendment adds a sunset.

Essey McGuire of MCPS told the committee the amendments ‘‘reflect exactly what we're looking for’’ and noted the district often meets the hour standard and that the authority would avoid difficult decisions about whether and how to make up specific snow days. Committee members moved the amendment, seconded it, called the roll and recorded affirmative votes; the bill passed as amended.

The committee recorded its vote in favor and moved the amended bill out of subcommittee. Members said the tighter amendment and sunset were designed to address concerns from other delegations while giving MCPS immediate flexibility for the current school year.