Courtesy BCPS/Facebook
Courtesy BCPS/Facebook

A pattern seems to be developing for area school systems trying to fall in line with Gov. Larry Hogan’s mandate on school start and end dates.

Baltimore County Public Schools is the newest local school system to cut spring break for the next school year. The school board approved their new calendar at a meeting last night, ABC2 reports.

In trying to keep within Hogan’s new rules requiring Maryland’s schools to begin after Labor Day and end on or before June 15, the county school system has made some notable cuts. The biggest one is the shortened spring break. While students in Baltimore County this coming April will get an entire week off, plus the Monday after – a total of 10 days of vacation, including weekends – in 2018, they’ll be off on Friday and Monday, and that’s it. That’s four days in total, which is more of an extended weekend than a spring break, if we’re being honest. Here’s a link to the calendar.

Anne Arundel County schools made a similar move last month that cut spring break down to just three school days off. The approval of that calendar earned them rebuke from Gov. Hogan’s office, with a spokesperson calling the need to cut spring break “misleading” and “disappointing.” And yet, Baltimore County’s new calendar gives students and teachers an even shorter break. The governor’s office hasn’t responded yet to a request for comment.

One other county in Maryland, Worcester County on the shore, has managed to start and end school on Hogan’s preferred terms in past years. Their current school year gives students a four-day spring break this April. School officials in the Baltimore area may be following their lead in trying to comply with Hogan’s new rule.

This post has been updated.

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Ethan McLeod

Ethan McLeod is a freelance reporter in Baltimore. He previously worked as an editor for the Baltimore Business Journal and Baltimore Fishbowl. His work has appeared in Bloomberg CityLab, Next City and...