The Harford County Board of Education evaluated the proposed calendar for the 2026-2027 school year during a meeting Monday.

Within the proposed calendar, students would go back to school on the first Tuesday of September, setting the precedentfor future years, and the last day of school would be June 17, if the school system uses all their embedded inclement weather days.

If no inclement weather days are used, the last day would be June 14. The last day of school will be an early dismissal, according to Jillian Lader, manager of communications.

Earlier this month, the board agreed to decrease the number of embedded inclement weather days from six to three, to align with other counties across the state.

The calendar also features the addition of six teacher planning days, a first for the school system.

According to Lader, educators expressed the need for more time to themselves that aren’t professional development days. Professional development days, Lader stated, may be county-led and could be used for things like curriculum, instruction and assessment and opposed to teacher planning days that are designed for teachers to use for their desired purpose.

Early dismissals before holidays, such as Thanksgiving and winter break, were implemented into the proposed calendar, as well as early dismissals for students around the end of each quarter. The first quarter ends on Nov. 6, the second quarter ends Jan. 27, the third quarter ends April 9, and the last quarter finishes June 14.

Vice President Lauren Paige suggested that the board consider having every federal holiday off. If they move forward with that effort, elected member Carol Mueller said they should also consider starting school earlier in August or ending school later in June.

The proposed calendar will be up for public comment for 60 days, according to the board. The calendar committee will meet on Nov. 24 to consider all public comments and adjust the calendar as needed. On Dec. 15, the final product will be brought before the board, where they will vote on its approval.

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