Survey open to help decide if Harford schools start before or after Labor Day next year

Parents, students and staff are being asked to choose between two academic calendars for next school year in Harford County. One has the first day of school in August and the other starts classes after Labor Day.

Feedback will be gathered through an online survey on the school system’s website. An email with a link to the survey was sent to students, parents and staff on Tuesday.

Parents and guardians must use their student’s ID number to complete the survey. Students and staff will be asked to complete the survey using a Harford schools-issued device or after logging into their Harford schools account.

The survey will be available through Nov. 22.

Jillian Lader, communications manager for the school system, said during a Board of Education meeting Monday night that parents should consider the calendar option that best supports their student academically.

Outlined in the survey are two options — a calendar proposed by the Board of Education and a calendar proposed by the system’s calendar committee.

The school board’s calendar proposes the first day of school as the Tuesday after Labor Day and the last day of school to be June 11, 2026. Should the six inclement weather days outlined by board policy be used or exceeded, the last day of school would be June 22.

The committee’s proposed calendar sets the first day of school for 2025 as Aug. 25. Per state law, students need 180 instructional days, which sets the last day of school for the committee’s calendar on June 8, 2026. If inclement weather days exceed the board’s six allotted days, the last day of school would be June 16.

The committee calendar would start earlier than the board’s proposed calendar to better align the start of school with athletics, dual enrollment at Harford Community College and to allow additional instruction time.

Lader noted that both calendars strategically place half days and professional development days throughout the school year to give students and educators a break after milestones in the school year such as the end of marking periods.

The calendar committee will discuss survey results Dec. 3. On Dec. 16 the committee will give a final presentation to the Board of Education, which will then vote on the final calendar for 2025-2026.