EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb1169*
HOUSE BILL 1169
F3 5lr0981
By: Montgomery County Delegation
Introduced and read first time: February 6, 2025
Assigned to: Ways and Means
A BILL ENTITLED
AN ACT concerning 1
Montgomery County – Board of Education – Mandatory School Holidays 2
MC 6–25 3
FOR the purpose of requiring the Montgomery County Board of Education to close public 4
schools in the county to observe certain holidays; and generally relating to the 5
Montgomery County Board of Education and mandatory school holidays. 6
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 7
Article – Education 8
Section 7–103(a) 9
Annotated Code of Maryland 10
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 11
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 12
Article – Education 13
Section 7–103(c) 14
Annotated Code of Maryland 15
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 16
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 17
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 18
Article – Education 19
7–103. 20
(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (e), and (f) of this section, each public 21
school under the jurisdiction of a county board: 22
(1) (i) Shall be open for pupil attendance for at least 180 actual school 23 2 HOUSE BILL 1169
days and a minimum of 1,080 school hours during a 10–month period in each school year; 1
or 2
(ii) If normal school attendance is prevented because of conditions 3
described in subsection (b) of this section, shall be open for at least 1,080 hours during a 4
10–month period; 5
(2) Shall be open for pupil attendance a minimum of 3 hours during each 6
school day; and 7
(3) May not be open on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays in order to meet 8
the 180–day or 1,080–hour requirement of this subsection. 9
(c) (1) The following days are public school holidays: 10
(i) Thanksgiving Day and the day after; 11
(ii) Christmas Eve and from then through January 1; 12
(iii) Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; 13
(iv) Presidents’ Day; 14
(v) The Friday before Easter and from then through the Monday 15
after Easter; 16
(vi) Memorial Day; and 17
(vii) Primary and general election days. 18
(2) If the federal and State observances of a holiday are on different days, 19
the board of education of each county shall determine which date shall be the date of 20
observance for the public schools within the county. 21
(3) The public schools shall devote a part of at least one day to appropriate 22
exercises for each of the following: 23
(i) Washington’s Birthday; 24
(ii) Lincoln’s Birthday; 25
(iii) Veterans’ Day; 26
(iv) Columbus Day; 27
(v) Arbor Day; 28
HOUSE BILL 1169 3
(vi) Black History Month, with an emphasis on Harriet Tubman and 1
Frederick Douglass and the contributions they made in the fight against slavery; and 2
(vii) Any other day of national significance. 3
(4) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, the public schools, 4
in the following counties, may remain open and in session on primary and general election 5
days: 6
(i) Calvert; 7
(ii) Caroline; 8
(iii) Dorchester; 9
(iv) Kent; 10
(v) Talbot; and 11
(vi) Worcester. 12
(5) (I) THIS PARAGRAPH APPLIE S ONLY IN MONTGOMERY 13
COUNTY. 14
(II) THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION SHALL 15
CLOSE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTY, INCLUDING ALL BUILDI NGS AND OFFICES , 16
TO OBSERVE THE FOLLO WING HOLIDAYS: 17
1. IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWI NG HOLIDAYS BEGIN ON A 18
WEEKDAY, THE FIRST DAY ONLY O F: 19
A. DIWALI; 20
B. EID AL–ADHA; 21
C. EID AL–FITR; 22
D. LUNAR NEW YEAR; AND 23
E. ROSH HASHANAH; AND 24
2. YOM KIPPUR. 25
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 26
1, 2025. 27 4 HOUSE BILL 1169