by Frank Platko ‘18

The Montgomery County Board of Education recently finalized the new 2017-18 school calendar. The MCPS school year will now start on September 4, 2017 and conclude on June 14, 2018, finishing two days earlier than in years past.

There is currently one professional day at the end of each of the first three quarters. However, they will be moved to before the beginning of the school year, adding to the existing five days. The new eight-day professional day period is broken down into three sections; three days at the discretion of the principal, three days for “system-run professional development,” and two days for planning and room preparation.

Not everyone is pleased with the changes. Science teacher Glenn Miller, a member of the board of directors for the Montgomery County Educators Association (MCEA), questioned why MCPS made the changes without consulting the system’s educators.

“Take into account the major decisions made without teacher input already, and now add the calendar on top of it; this is really the breaking point for teachers,” said Miller.

Additionally, a new plan was developed for weather-related emergency closings. Seven “make-up” days, two of which would occur at the beginning of spring break, have been put onto the calendar and the remaining five days added to the end of the school year.