The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County has given formal approval to the 2019-2020 School Year Calendar, which restores two days of fall parent-teacher conferences for elementary and middle school students.
The calendar, which was approved by the Board at its November 14, 2018, and can be found here, calls for schools to begin on Tuesday, September 3, 2019. The last day of class for students is scheduled for Monday, June 15, 2020.
Other key parts of the 2019-2020 calendar:
- There are two days built into the calendar for inclement weather closings, with a conditional third day designated on March 10, 2020 (currently a parent-teacher conference day) to be used if necessary.
- As allowed under state law, the calendar designates June 16-22, 2020, as days on which students would attend class in the event of excessive inclement weather closings.
- There are three days for Thanksgiving break and three days for Easter/Spring break.
- In October 2019, there are two days for parent-teacher conferences at the elementary and middle school levels, and one day for parent-teacher conferences at the high school level.
- In March 2020, there is one day for parent-teacher conferences at all levels.
The Board declined to approve a tentative 2020-2021 School Year calendar because of the possibility of General Assembly legislation which potentially could alter the end of the school year and, therefore, allow more flexibility with regard to conferences and holidays. Under state law, classes could not start until September 8, 2020, and must conclude by June 15, 2021. As presented to the Board at its November 14 meeting, the tentative 2020-2021 School Year Calendar allocated no days for parent-teacher conferences, only two days for Easter/Spring break, and called for schools to open on Yom Kippur.
“These are not decisions that we would like to make, but ones which we would be forced to make absent any relief from the General Assembly with regard to the end of the school year,” Superintendent George Arlotto said. “The 2020-2021 school year is a worst-case scenario in terms of the window. We are hopeful that state lawmakers will pursue legislation to provide that relief during the upcoming session.”
Board members had significant discussion at the meeting about creating two-hour early dismissal days on which to hold parent-teacher conferences in future years and using the full days as potential days for Easter/Spring break or other holidays. Extending those conferences into the evening, and therefore extending the work day for teachers, would require negotiations with the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County.