Montgomery County Public Schools announced it will close schools Friday, marking the fifth straight day schools have been closed since the weekend snowstorm.
All school and community activities in school buildings are also canceled, although administrative offices will open on time. Day care programs in school buildings will remain open as scheduled.
The move comes after many other local jurisdictions such as Howard and Arlington counties announced they would cancel classes Friday. D.C. Public Schools students returned to class Wednesday.
The school system will continue to offer free lunch at 12 sites Friday.
All weekend school-sponsored and community activities will continue as scheduled.
While the school system closed school Monday, classes had already been canceled for a pre-scheduled professional day for teachers. However, the closure Friday means the school system will have used up five snow days, which includes a Jan. 22 closure when the storm began. That’s more than the four days already built in to the MCPS calendar to meet the state’s minimum requirement for school days. That means the school system may need to petition the state for a waiver or make up a day later in the school year.