Weather
The weather is constantly monitored by the Operations Department to ensure that our students are safe while they are on our buses and in our school buildings. We have emergency plans in place and weather emergency drills are a part of the educational process at CMCSS.
The Chief Operations Officer (COO) always errs on the side of caution to ensure the safety of students. To make the best recommendation, the COO looks at weather data and has transportation and operations staff checking the road conditions across Montgomery County. He also studies the radar, attends National Weather Service briefings, and calls forecasters. Sometimes the decision is easy. The more difficult decisions come when there is uncertainty about the timing or the significance of the event.
If school buildings must close due to inclement weather or other emergencies, the CMCSS Communications Department will use ParentSquare to notify families. Parents and guardians can use the Parent Self-Service Portal at parents.cmcss.net to update contact information throughout the year. The district also will share inclement weather closure updates on official CMCSS social media accounts, district and school websites, and local media. Please ensure that you check your sources when viewing school closure information on social media. For official CMCSS social media accounts, follow us @cmcssinfo on Facebook and Instagram.
CMCSS is a Storm Ready district. The program, developed by the National Weather Service, uses a proactive approach to improving weather operations. Learn more about the Storm Ready program.
By law, students are required to attend school for 180, 6.5-hour days. However, the state allows school systems to exceed the 6.5-hour instructional day by 30 minutes to meet the equivalent instructional hours of 180, 6.5-hour days. The additional time can be “stockpiled” for professional development or inclement weather days that must be approved before the beginning of the school year. These stockpile days cannot be carried over to the next year or used to end the school year early. Beginning the 2025-2026 school year, CMCSS will have 6 inclement weather days and 7 professional development days (see update below).
2025-2026 Inclement Weather Make-up Plan
The first five days* missed by students will not be made up and will come from stockpiled student days.
The sixth day missed and subsequent days will be made up as available:
- Monday, January 5, 2026 (Staff Development Day)
- Wednesday, February 4, 2026 (Staff Development Day)
- Monday, February 16, 2025 (Presidents Day)
- Thirty minutes added to thirteen days not to infringe upon the state testing window to account for one make-up day
Make up for days missed beyond this plan will be determined as circumstances require.
*The 2025-2026 make-up plan originally had 6 inclement weather stockpile days. However, one of the six days had to be used for the special election on December 2, 2025. CMCSS used all 5 available stockpile days the week of January 26, 2026, due to the winter storm. CMCSS announced that Wednesday, February 4, 2026, would serve as the first make-up day, since schools remained closed on Monday, February 2, 2026. At the time of this update, CMCSS is awaiting a waiver request from the Commissioner of Education to forgive the stockpile days used during the January 2026 winter storm when a State of Emergency was declared.
Days Missed in 2026 Due to Inclement Weather:
- Monday, January 26
- Tuesday, January 27
- Wednesday, January 28
- Thursday, January 29
- Friday, January 30
- Monday, February 2
Employee Information
In the event of closings or delays, employees should refer to policy HUM-A021 regarding Leave Due to Inclement Weather and Other Emergencies.