Schools may be closed when weather conditions are severe. An announcement will be issued as soon as the decision is made. Staff members, students, and parents should be asked to listen to area radio and television stations, County Cable Channel 6, Cable Channel 34—MCPS TV, Outlook, on the Internet at montgomeryschoolsmd.org, and a taped telephone message at 301-279-3673. Emergency e-mail announcements are available by signing up for MCPS QuickNotes on the school system’s home page. Every effort will be made to make the announcement the night before. When schools are closed, all school and community activities in public facilities are canceled, including athletic practices and events. Private daycare providers housed in schools may elect to stay open if schools are closed and administrative offices are open. In extreme conditions, administrative offices also may be closed. Day care providers housed in school buildings will not be able to operate on days when administrative offices are closed.

Schools will be notified of early dismissal by 11:00 a.m. through an Outlook emergency message. Weather conditions that develop during the morning may cause an early dismissal, two and one-half (2.5) hours earlier than regular school closing time. In such an event, students will be provided lunch and will be transported home two and one-half (2.5) hours early on regular p.m. routes. Students in Head Start and prekindergarten will be dismissed at 10:30 a.m. and returned to their normal drop off locations. Afternoon prekindergarten programs and other early childhood programs will be canceled. School and community activities scheduled for the evening hours, including all field trips, are canceled unless otherwise noted. Such early closing decisions will be announced by 11:00 a.m. over area radio and television stations, County Cable Channel 6, Cable Channel 34—MCPS TV, Outlook, on the Internet at montgomeryschoolsmd.org, and a taped telephone message at 301-279-3673. Emergency e-mail announcements are available by signing up for MCPS QuickNotes on the school system’s home page.

All services for special education and alternative programs will observe the same time changes as regular education programs, making the necessary adjustments in schedules, as required. Because approximately 500 buses are normally scheduled to perform mid-morning and noon runs, potential equipment scheduling conflicts for early dismissals will have to be individually resolved by the Department of Transportation. Weather changes for students in private placement schools, located outside Montgomery County, will be determined by the worst case option between Montgomery County and the jurisdiction in which the school is located; e.g., see some possible scenarios below.

In-service and other staff meetings/activities are canceled when schools are closed, regardless of the time they were scheduled to be held. In the event of a late opening (two hours), morning and all-day meetings are canceled and will be rescheduled. Afternoon and evening activities may be held as scheduled. In the event of two and one-half hours early dismissal, morning training activities and meetings may be held on schedule (even as part of an all-day activity), but afternoon training, afternoon sessions of an all day meeting, and evening training activities and meetings are canceled. The following chart summarizes the impact of weather related schedule changes on training programs: