By Noah Rosendorf ’17

One of the most enjoyable experiences during winter is waking up in the morning and finding out that the county has declared a snow day. However, MCPS only has four built-in snow days per year before extending the school year, and there have been seven such days. MCPS has requested a waiver of three days from the state to not have to extend the school year, but the State Board will not consider requests until March 24.

The Montgomery County Education (MCEA) had asked its member teachers to give input on two options. Option one—if the waiver is denied—is adding three days onto the year and ending school June 17. Option two is applying for a waiver of two days, changing the professional day of Friday March 27 to an instructional day, changing March 30 to a half day, and extending the deadline for grade submission for the third quarter. However, the state would not respond quickly enough for option two to work.