Over the past two years, criticism over Governor Larry Hogan’s 2016 executive order has not been uncommon. The executive order mandates that all Maryland school districts start school after Labor Day, end before June 15 and span 180 days of instruction, which eliminates much flexibility from school calendars. Due to the difficulties school districts have faced accommodating for these requirements, education activists recently supported a bill to overturn the executive order.
Senate Bill 128 was introduced by Senator Nancy King of Montgomery County and grants much more flexibility to school calendars. According to Bethesda Magazine, the bill maintains the 180-day school year but allows school districts to decide their own start dates. Schools would also be able to extend the school year five days past June 15.
MCPS especially has seen the adverse effects of the current calendar system—emergency weather closings have extended the school year, and another snow day would shorten spring break to five days. Thus, many MCPS students agree with the new bill’s proposals, especially if a longer summer would adversely affect spring break.
“I’d rather start school earlier and have a longer spring break because that’s where we need it,” Richard Montgomery sophomore Alyssa Utochkin said. “We’ve already had summer vacation, we don’t need that extra week.”
Just as the lengths of breaks are restricted, MCPS can currently only close for a limited number of holidays. As a result, the Board must disregard certain religious or cultural holidays, and many feel that days off are too few and far between. “In August, you always like the thought of not having to go back to school, but come December or April, you’re always like ‘I only get a couple days off,’” Richard Montgomery sophomore Amanda Rodriguez-Michael said.
Proponents of the bill also argued that the longer summer would risk students forgetting more content, but some students feel that the process of forgetting is inevitable either way. “I think I forget about the things I learn the week after I learn them. We’re constantly filling our mind with more stuff and having to forget other stuff, so one more week of summer wouldn’t be much more forgetting than I probably would if I kept on going and learning and dumping,” Rodriguez-Michael said.
“You could always read over the summer; that helps. Either way people want to spend their break just enjoying themselves, so I guess a longer time might make it worse, but I don’t see how that’s going to change much,” Rodriguez-Michael continued.
As stated by Bethesda Magazine, Governor Hogan’s administration has spoken out against Bill 128, citing that the 2016 executive order benefits the Maryland economy and has the support of 70 percent of Maryland residents. Nonetheless, the Maryland Senate voted to pass the bill on in a 31-13 vote February 12. If passed by the Maryland House of Delegates as well, Bill 128 will go into effect on July 1.
Article by MoCo Student staff writer Helen Qian of Richard Montgomery High School