The Anne Arundel County Board of Education approved revisions to the 2025-26 school year calendar on Oct. 15, 2025, converting six early dismissal days into three full instructional days for students paired with three non-student days dedicated to teacher grading and staff professional development. The changes, enabled by a new state law signed by Gov. Wes Moore, prioritize required seat hours over the traditional 180-day minimum while maintaining flexibility for end-of-period assessments.
Under the updated schedule, students will attend full days on Jan. 15, 2026; March 26, 2026; and June 16, 2026, marking the last student day of the year. The following days — Jan. 16, March 27, and June 17 — become non-student workdays, allowing educators to finalize report cards and participate in targeted training sessions. These adjustments target the close of the second, third, and fourth marking periods, respectively. The first marking period’s early dismissals on Oct. 27 and 28, 2025, remain unchanged, as do the three Unity Day early releases on Dec. 9, 2025; Feb. 10, 2026; and March 17, 2026, when students depart two hours ahead of regular time.
The board’s unanimous vote followed discussions on balancing instructional needs with staff resources, as outlined in the Oct. 15 meeting agenda. Superintendent Mark Bedell had sought public input earlier in the fall, emphasizing the shift’s alignment with evolving educational demands. The revised calendar ensures compliance with state-mandated seat hours — 1,080 at elementary and middle schools, 1,170 at high schools — without hitting the 180-day threshold that binds other Maryland districts. This exemption applies solely to Anne Arundel County Public Schools, which enrolls about 84,000 students across 126 schools spanning 588 square miles from Pasadena to Annapolis.
The enabling legislation, House Bill 226 and its Senate counterpart SB 569, cleared the General Assembly in spring 2025 before Moore’s approval as Chapter 346. Sponsored by Del. Jackie Davis Bagnall, the measure grants the county board authority to adopt scheduling models that eliminate early dismissals, provided annual reports detail impacts on student outcomes and operations for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Proponents, including the Maryland State Education Association, highlighted potential gains in uninterrupted teaching time and reduced fatigue from fragmented days. The bill’s fiscal note projected no added state costs, relying on local adjustments to existing budgets.
Prior to this law, AACPS calendars balanced both metrics, often leading to compressed schedules or makeup days after closures. The 2024-25 year, for instance, incorporated 12 early dismissals to accommodate 180 days amid weather disruptions, a pattern dating to post-2010 reforms under the Bridge to Excellence Act. Those standards, codified in state education code Section 7-103, aimed to standardize instructional delivery but drew criticism for inflexibility in diverse districts. Anne Arundel’s model now echoes pilot programs in Baltimore City and Montgomery County, where seat-hour focus has supported extended blocks for core subjects like math and literacy.
Implementation details emerged from board work sessions in September 2025, where administrators modeled scenarios using data from the previous year’s attendance logs. The non-student days, for example, allocate four hours to grading protocols under the district’s electronic progress reporting system, with remaining time for sessions on topics such as inclusive classroom strategies or data-driven interventions. High school staff may prioritize Advanced Placement exam preparations, while elementary teams focus on early literacy benchmarks aligned with state standards.
The full 2025-26 calendar, effective immediately, lists the first student day as Aug. 25, 2025, with Thanksgiving break from Nov. 26 to 28 and winter recess from Dec. 22, 2025, to Jan. 2, 2026. Spring break runs April 3 to 10, 2026, and professional development days bookend the year on Aug. 18-22, 2025, and June 18, 2026. Observances like Diwali on Oct. 20, 2025, and Lunar New Year on Feb. 17, 2026, appear as cultural notes without closures. Parents can access the document via the district’s portal, updated by Oct. 17, 2025.
The board’s next steps include a Dec. 3, 2025, review of initial feedback, with further refinements possible before the 2026-27 cycle. This targeted flexibility positions AACPS to refine calendars amid broader state pushes for personalized learning under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a $3.8 billion overhaul emphasizing career readiness. Local stakeholders, from PTA chapters to business partners, can track updates through the district’s communication channels, ensuring alignment with community priorities in a region bridging Baltimore and the capital.
