Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) families face three possible start dates for the 2027-28 school year, with the earliest sending students back Aug. 24, 2027.

The Montgomery County Board of Education reviewed the three draft calendars at a work session Thursday, Oct. 8, in Rockville, as first reported by Bethesda Magazine. MCPS Chief of Staff Essie McGuire and Catherine Malchodi, executive director of the Division of District Operations, presented the options.

The drafts differ mainly on when school starts and ends:

• Draft 1: First day Aug. 24, 2027; last day June 8, 2028
• Draft 2: First day Aug. 26, 2027; last day June 12, 2028
• Draft 3: First day Aug. 31, 2027; last day June 14, 2028

All three share the same winter break (Dec. 24-31) and spring break (April 10-17). Each includes three makeup days for weather closures, with a virtual learning plan as a backup if those days run out.

Board members Karla Silvestre and Laura Stewart both supported an earlier start, saying it would provide more instructional time before standardized tests.

"The more we frontload the school year, that's frequently better for instruction," McGuire told the board.

The discussion follows the 2026-27 school year, in which MCPS lost five school days to winter weather. The district drew backlash after proposing to use Eid al-Fitr as a makeup day, reversed that decision after community outcry and added five days to the end of the year. A state bill that would have let MCPS count instructional hours instead of days failed to pass.

Bethesda-area families had the loudest voice in shaping these proposals. Region 1, which includes Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, accounted for 24% of the 9,674 survey responses MCPS collected in September, according to board documents. That was the largest share of any region.

Survey respondents' top priorities included preserving a full week of spring break, clearly identifying makeup days and maximizing five-day instructional weeks.

The board is also weighing a two-year calendar approach. Under that plan, the same vote would tentatively set start and end dates, winter break and spring break for 2028-29. Final details for that year would follow in fall 2027.

Public feedback on the three draft calendars is open from October through November. The board is scheduled to vote on the 2027-28 calendar at its Nov. 19 business meeting.