Montgomery County Public Schools plans to build three snow makeup days into its next two school calendars and activate virtual learning if winter weather burns through all of them.

The provisions are part of draft calendars for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years now under public review, MoCo Show reported. The Montgomery County Board of Education is expected to vote on the calendars at its Thursday, Nov. 19 business meeting, which begins at 4 p.m. The calendars would apply to all MCPS schools, including Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walt Whitman and Walter Johnson high schools.

The approach follows a turbulent stretch for MCPS families. During the 2026-27 school year, five days were lost to winter weather. The district initially proposed using a non-instructional day on March 20, which fell on the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, as a makeup day. MCPS reversed course after community outcry and instead added five days to the end of the calendar, according to Bethesda Magazine.

The new drafts take a different tack. Each of the three options for 2027-28 includes three makeup days spread across January, May and June. If all three are used, a virtual learning plan would cover any additional closures from extreme weather or other emergencies.

That structure aligns with a Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) resolution adopted March 24, which encourages districts to plan for either three makeup days followed by virtual instruction or six standalone makeup days. The state guidance also calls for all makeup days to be completed before Juneteenth, according to the MSDE resolution.

As we reported Oct. 9, MCPS staff presented three start-date options at a Board of Education work session. The earliest would begin Aug. 24 and end June 8; the latest would start Aug. 31 and wrap June 14. All three share the same winter break, Dec. 24-31, and spring break, April 10-17.

Board members Karla Silvestre and Laura Stewart supported an earlier start to give students more instruction time before standardized tests. MCPS Chief of Staff Essie McGuire told the board at the Oct. 9 session, "The more we frontload the school year, that's frequently better for instruction."

MCPS is also considering adopting calendars two years at a time, giving families and staff longer notice of key dates. The district is collecting public feedback on the drafts through November.

Families can find the Board of Education's meeting schedule at montgomeryschoolsmd.org.