Schools Ask State to Waive Four Snow Days

Classes were canceled eight times this winter in the Prince George’s County Public School system, double the number of snow days built into the yearly calendar, prompting the district to ask for a state waiver.

Prince George’s County Schools Chief Executive Kevin M. Maxwell has asked the state to waive four class days lost to inclement weather, The Washington Post reports. If approved, the days would not have to be made up.

Maryland law requires students to attend school 180 days during a school calendar year.

Maxwell said he made the request “in view of the extraordinary and severe weather conditions that resulted in my having to cancel classes on eight separate school days for the safety of our students.”

Maxwell said the Board of Education had the foresight to plan for four “inclement weather make-up days” to add to the end of the school year but “that has not proved sufficient in number this year.”

The state’s 24 school systems were given permission earlier this week to apply for state waivers for up to five days. Montgomery County schools, which have missed 10 days this year, asked this week that five instructional days be forgiven.

Maxwell said that if the state grants the waiver, school will end on June 11.