Garrett County Public Schools (GCPS) received notification from the Maryland State Board of Education and State Superintendent last week, indicating calendar modification requests will not be accepted until the January State Board Meeting of the current school year. This makes Presidents’ Day the earliest holiday on which a local school system may request the State Board for schools to open on a holiday due to inclement weather. The State Board and the State Superintendent of Schools strongly recommended that local school systems refrain from designating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an inclement weather recovery day in their school calendars. GCPS has traditionally built this holiday into the school calendar as a possible make-up day, including the proposed 2026-27 calendar. Therefore, the GCPS calendar committee reconvened on December 15, 2025, to discuss this change. As a result, the committee determined that community input was necessary to finalize the proposed calendar, particularly regarding the placement of built-in snow make-up days and the graduation date. Once the survey closes, the calendar committee will reconvene to propose an updated calendar at the January 13, 2026, Board Meeting.
The committee seeks feedback from stakeholders on how to best schedule possible make-up days. Possible make-up days include the following:
- Presidents’ Day – Monday, February 15, 2027, Easter Monday – Monday, March 29, 2027, and after school is scheduled to end – Friday, June 4, 2027.
- Easter Monday – Monday, March 29, 2027, and two days after school is scheduled to end – Friday, June 4, and Monday, June 7, 2027.
- All three days after school is scheduled to end – Friday, June 4, Monday, June 7, and Tuesday, June 8, 2027.
- The committee also requests your feedback on possible graduation dates:
- Saturday, May 22, 2027
- Sunday, May 30, 2027 (Memorial Day Weekend)
- Saturday, June 5, 2027
Feedback may be provided using the following Google Form https://forms.gle/Z8aDYmVpCvaMULKB7. Please use this form to provide feedback on all aspects of the calendar for the 2026-27 school year. If you previously responded with feedback on the 2026-27 calendar and wish to update it, you may edit your response. The response period will be extended through Sunday, January 4, 2026. Responses may also be mailed or emailed using the following information:
Garrett County Public Schools
Attn: Public Relations Office
770 Dennett Road
Oakland, MD 21550
public.info@gcps.net
The Board will read each comment submitted before the January 13, 2026, Board Meeting.
