Baltimore County Public Schools Unanimously Approve To Start School After Labor Day
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) -- Baltimore County Public Schools have unanimously approved to start the 2019-2020 academic school year after Labor Day Weekend.
The Baltimore County Public School Board said that it received a lot of feedback from parents and teachers. That feedback helped fuel their decision on Tuesday night.
Baltimore County Schools To Discuss Whether School Will Start Before Or After Labor Day
#BaCo approved unanimously for option 3 to start school after Labor Day with 10 days of spring break pending approval from the State. Otherwise, they will go to option 2 which is start after Labor Day with 6 days of spring break (including weekend) @wjz
— Kelsey Kushner (@KelseyKushnerTV) June 12, 2019
Baltimore County School Board members voted on a third option brought to the table at the meeting. The school year will now run Sept. 3, 2019, through June 19, 2020.
This option will also give students a 10-day spring break period, with Presidents Day and Easter Monday as provisional weather days.
"I think for families starting after Labor Day is a far better option, it lets everybody enjoy their summer and spend more family time together," Brooke Hodge of Baltimore County said.
This vote comes nearly three years after Governor Larry Hogan signed an executive order which required all public schools start after Labor Day Weekend, but the General Assembly overturned his decision earlier this year.
The school board opened the vote to the public, offering only two options. Either start the school year before Labor Day with a 10-day spring break or start after with a six-day spring break.
The vote is still awaiting approval from the State of Maryland.
"I think it's really good for teachers and students to have a longer spring break, it's really good and refreshing for everybody," Mike Morris of Baltimore County said.
The Baltimore County School Board said that if the state does not approve their decision to start after Labor Day Weekend with a longer spring break, they will go back to their second option which would be starting after Labor Day Weekend with a six-day spring break.