On Jan. 6, MCPS saw their biggest snowfall in years. With 4 to 8 inches of snow falling around the county, there was a three day closure and a two hour delay on that Thursday. Conditions around the county were icy and dangerous for multiple days following the snow. The snow banks around driveways, county roads and sidewalks were uncleared for nearly four days in some areas. All of these conditions highlight the inefficiency of MCPS in dealing with wintery conditions throughout the county.
Only one month into the new year, Montgomery County has seen quite a large amount of snow, including one of the largest snowstorms in recent history. The snow started late Sunday night, continuing into the next day, Jan. 6, until around 10 p.m. There was no additional snowfall during the days after that. It took MCPS a full three and a half days to reopen schools, which is a significant amount of time to clear out the snow.
Three instructional days is also a significant amount of time to lose in the academic school year and may affect student learning. Particularly for students who need additional support, missing school due to a snow day or delayed opening can make it more difficult to get the instructional help they need and could even have a significant impact on their grade.
On the other hand, multiple other counties in the DMV area were more efficient in reopening schools than MCPS. The District of Columbia’s public schools were open after one day of closure. Howard and other Maryland counties bordering Montgomery County were also able to open more quickly than MCPS. Now, some might want to use the county’s size, both in land area and population, as an excuse for the time it takes to reach “safe conditions for reopening.” However, that would be ignoring MCPS’s massive 2025 school year budget of 3.22 billion intended to account for the size of the county.
Questionable closures aren’t a new thing for MCPS either as over the years, MCPS has had many closures that could be perceived as unnecessary. In 2018, MCPS canceled classes due to high wind speeds in the area, which many found questionable. Noticeably, closures and delays this year are being called more than before. MCPS chose to follow through with a two hour delay on Jan. 21, after around an inch of snow fell for most of the county on Jan. 19. The two hour delay was given for frigid weather and icy conditions, but MCPS had all of Jan. 20 to deal with the minimal snow that fell, as well as the ice that formed as a result of the weather. That should have been enough time to clean up the roads with salt and snow plows.
During that week, MCPS announced that they would be giving out two hour delays on Jan. 22 and 23 in addition to the delay on Jan. 21. But, MCPS later decided to backtrack on their decision to have a two hour delay on Jan. 23. The county called it a “moment of joy” because they were able to avoid another two hour delay. This calls into question why they decided to announce the delay in the first place. If the county wasn’t absolutely sure that a two hour delay would be necessary on Jan. 23, why would they call one so early? The reversal decision may have been irritating for parents and students who were under the initial impression that schools would be operating on a delayed opening.
For as large of a county as MCPS is, it shouldn’t take nearly as long as it does to make sure conditions are safe to get to school, especially considering the budget we have. In addition to that, the county shouldn’t announce delays significantly ahead of time if they aren’t positive that a delay is necessary. Although everybody loves a snow day, closing school when it might not be necessary can lead to days being added on to the end of the year, which isn’t fun for anybody. Although MCPS isn’t great about reopening schools after winter weather, MCPS should definitely be looking to improve in this area.
