Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan made amendments to an executive order on Tuesday that make it more difficult for K-12 public schools in this state to begin before Labor Day.
Hogan’s initial Aug. 31 executive order declared that K-12 public schools in the state would begin after Labor Day for the 2017-18 school year unless schools obtained a waiver. All K-12 public schools, besides those in Worcester County, began school before Labor Day this year on Aug. 23, The Diamondback reported in September.
The amendments came about after the State Board of Education expressed a need for guidance regarding the waiver portion of the executive order, said Douglass Mayer, a spokesman from Hogan’s office. The original wording of the order said the standards to receive a waiver were based on “compelling justification,” and the revised order defines that justification, Mayer said.
Charter schools and low-performing or at-risk schools with innovative schedules are eligible for the waiver, meaning those with a “non-traditional calendar,” Mayer said.
School districts that have closed for 10 or more days at least twice in the past five years on account of “natural disasters, civil disasters, or severe weather conditions” will be eligible as well, according to the executive order.
The order’s amendments also clarify the ability for a local Board of Education to apply to the State Board of Education for a waiver, and notes that schools will need to apply to the State Board of Education for a waiver each year they wish to be exempt.
“Our hope is that this process … continues to move forward,” Mayer said. “We know that … a vast majority of Marylanders want this to continue moving forward.”
A 2013 nonpartisan task force under then-Gov. Martin O’Malley determined there is no negative impact on students’ education for schools to begin after Labor Day, Mayer said. Starting school after Labor Day could generate $74.3 million in “direct economic activity” and $3.7 million in new wages, according to an Aug. 31 news release.
Having schools begin after Labor Day is “a non-partisan issue,” Mayer said. “The real story is why were so many people either afraid … or failed to act on it beforehand.”
State players such as Maryland Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp and state school board member Chester Finn have questioned the executive order. Finn said Hogan’s amended order further limiting school systems’ ability to obtain waivers is “very bad education policy” and doesn’t leave schools with a lot of wiggle room, according to an Oct. 13 Baltimore Sun article.
