Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) announced Tuesday afternoon that all schools and offices will be closed Wednesday, the third snow day of the week after a winter storm brought more than 5 inches to the area on Monday.
All activities, field trips and programs in schools and on school grounds, including child care programs and community use activities, are also canceled, MCPS announced Tuesday via email. Virtual learning is not available for this closure, according to the MCPS announcement at roughly 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday marks the third consecutive snow day of the week for the school district. MCPS announced the first snow day on Sunday with a video of Superintendent Thomas Taylor singing a parody of “Don’t Worry Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin with the lyrics, “Don’t worry it’s a snow day.”
The district called a snow day on Wednesday due to “snow levels and persistently cold temperature” making it difficult for MCPS to clear parking lots and walkways around schools of snow and ice.
According to the National Weather Service, areas of Montgomery County received 6 to 8 inches of snow as of Tuesday morning.
As of Tuesday afternoon, D.C. Public Schools and other Maryland public school districts had yet to call a snow day for Wednesday, according to WTOP. Many Northern Virginia public school districts also haven’t called a snow day, although some districts farther south, such as Fredericksburg City Public Schools, have canceled school for Wednesday.
According to the 2024-2025 school calendar, the district has set aside two inclement weather days, both of which have now been used. With a third snow day being called, the district may have to choose one of the following days to use as a make-up day — Jan. 29, March 31, June 6, June 16-18, June 20 and June 23. The last day of school for students is scheduled for June 13.
During the 2023-2024 school year, MCPS 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 MCPS website, the district decides whether to close schools during bad weather by utilizing information from the National Weather Service, Accu-Weather and the news media as well as inspecting roads, school driveways and sidewalks throughout the county. According to the website, an evening decision to close schools will occur by 7 p.m., but if necessary, a morning decision can be made by 5 a.m.
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.
On Tuesday morning, MCPS Spokesperson Liliana Lopez told Bethesda Today that the district was holding several meetings throughout the day to discuss the status of snow removal efforts.
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.
