Harford County Public Schools added a new delay option for inclement weather days. School system administrators hope the move will prevent them from exhausting all of the district’s snow days.

The school system alerted families and school staff of the additional option last week. HCPS has several options to adjust schedules in the case of inclement weather, including one-hour, two-hour and, now, three-hour delays.

“The 3-hour delay option provides additional time for HCPS facilities and school staff to prepare buildings for the safe arrival of staff and students,” said Jillian Lader, manager of communications for the school system, in an email.

The Maryland Board of Education requires 180 days of instructional time for students each year. Delays, the district said, do not need to be made up at the end of the year. Closures beyond the school system’s allotted inclement weather days, however, need to be made up at the end of the school year unless a waiver has been granted by the state Board of Education.

Last year, the school year was extended to June 20 after the district used its fifth inclement weather closure.

This academic year, the school system’s calendar includes six built-in inclement weather days. Next year, the embedded days will be reduced to three, following a vote from the Harford County Board of Education in September.

When a one-hour delay is enforced, Early Learners and Learning Together programs will also delay one hour. For two-hour delays, there will be no morning programs, but participants will meet in the afternoon. There will be no programs in the morning or afternoon for three-hour delay days.

As soon as the communications office is made aware of changes due to weather, the district said, written messages will be published, followed by direct messages. Families who have downloaded the HCPS app will receive notifications faster than the normal phone call.

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