Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) took a dramatic approach to announcing snow day information this year, releasing Tuesday a video in the style of an action movie depicting a war-room-style decision that ends with Superintendent Thomas Taylor pushing a red button.
“Don’t worry, we got this,” Taylor said as he pressed the button, triggering a snow day.
The video includes members of the MCPS central office including Peter Moran, chief of schools; Marcus Jones, former Montgomery County police chief and MCPS chief of security and compliance; and Esther McGuire, chief of staff, encouraging Taylor to push the button as dramatic music plays in the background.
During the 2023-2024 school year, the district used its two scheduled inclement weather days, plus an additional snow day. The extra snow day required MCPS to create a make-up learning day that was asynchronous and included students completing packets of schoolwork. The asynchronous learning day received mixed reviews, with parents arguing that it was a “pretend school day” while others embraced the opportunity to help their students with classwork.
According to the 2024-2025 school calendar, the district has set aside two snow days. If schools are closed three or more days, possible make-up days include Jan. 29, March 31, June 6, June 16, 17 and 18, June 20 and June 23, 2025. The last day of school for students is scheduled for June 13.
According to the MCPS website, the district decides whether to close schools during bad weather by utilizing information from National Weather Service, Accu-Weather and the news media as well as inspecting roads, school driveways and sidewalks throughout the county.
According to the Farmers Almanac, temperatures in the area this winter are expected to be slightly above average, while precipitation is expected to be slightly below normal. The most snow is expected to arrive in late December and late February.
The decision to close schools is always made for the entire school district, according to the website, because many students are transported beyond their home school attendance area.
“To close by cluster or zone would mean students living in a less affected area might be unable to attend their school and vice-versa,” the website explains. “This creates unequal access to the instructional programs and making sure each student receives the required days of instruction becomes difficult.”
The district has implemented color-coded school statuses, which include yellow signifying delayed school openings, blue representing early dismissal, red for school closures and orange noting “modified virtual instruction,” according to an email sent to MCPS families Tuesday.
According to the MCPS website, the district considers utilizing virtual learning on inclement weather days when the event impacting schools is predictable, it’s part of a multi-day scenario such as a blizzard or prior preparation and communication has occurred.
