MCPS looks ahead to a “much more typical school year” in the fall

The school board voted to begin the 2021-2022 school year on Aug. 30. The school year will include a full week of spring break and 182 total days of instruction — two more than what is required by the state law.

On March 22, a handful of selected students and staff transitioned back into the building after enduring over a year of virtual learning since the pandemic began. 

There are still questions rising from families around the county, but with the number of people eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine progressively increasing, Superintendent Jack Smith is hopeful that MCPS could return to the typical five-day week for the 2021-2022 school year. 

About 60 percent of MCPS students (about 100,000 students) opted to continue virtual learning throughout the rest of the current school year. As of Monday, approximately 19,000 kindergarten through third graders, career/technical education/special education students returned to in person instruction. The rest of MCPS students who also chose to return are expected to join them in late April.

Additionally, social distancing in classrooms is currently a major concern. It is not fully understood whether students and teachers should be maintaining a distance of 6 feet, (according to state guidelines), or 3 feet, (according to certain federal guidelines). “I am confident we can have schools much, much more like they have been in the past… if we can get the physical distancing issue clarified,” Smith said.