Updated Thursday – Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) remained closed Thursday, the fourth day of canceled classes because of a record-breaking snowstorm over the weekend.
All community activities in school buildings are also canceled. The school system’s administrative offices opened on time.
"There’s a little more work to do at facilities. There are still several neighborhood roads and sidewalks that are impassable," said MCPS spokesperson Derek Turner. "We have an abundance of caution when it comes to the safety and well-being of our students.”
Schools were closed Friday, Tuesday and Wednesday because of the snow. Students already had the day off Monday. The teacher professional day set for Monday was also canceled.
On Wednesday, MCPS offered free lunches to all students at three locations: Gaithersburg Elementary School, Sargent Shriver Elementary School in Silver Spring and Clopper Mill Elementary School in Germantown.
On Thursday, the school system will offer free lunches at 12 sites.
About 35 percent of the school system’s more than 165,000 students rely on free or reduced-price meals on school days.
The school system's athletics department released a schedule of make-up dates for games scheduled for Thursday. Many of the games had already been pushed back from earlier in the week.
In January 2010, MCPS closed for an entire week due to two significant snow storms within three days of each other.
The school system built in four extra days of instruction to account for emergency closures such as snow days while still meeting the state’s minimum requirement for instructional days. If the school system exceeds the four emergency closures, it can petition the state for a waiver not to have to make up instructional days in June.
