Garrett County Public Schools (GCPS) would like to provide an update on Winter Operations for the 2024-25 school year. The Virtual Learning Plan for Inclement Weather for the 2024-25 school year was approved at the October Board Meeting.
Due to updates in state legislation, the following items are changes to the Virtual Learning Plan from prior years:
Virtual days may only be implemented in place of inclement weather days.
Virtual learning days may only be implemented after three traditional “snow days” have been called, based upon the three make-up days built into the 2024-25 calendar.
All virtual days must be synchronous learning (with live instruction). Asynchronous days are no longer an option.
Approval is now up to each Local Education Agency. State-level approval is no longer required.
The detailed plan is available for review on the homepage of our website under District News.
As a result of these changes, our Inclement Weather Calls have also been updated. Changes are reflected in the Inclement Weather Calls document, located on the Transportation page of the website under the Winter Operation Information tab.
Additionally, the National Weather Service has changed its cold weather alerts. Starting this winter, Wind Chill Watches and Warnings will be consolidated into Extreme Cold Watches and Warnings. Wind Chill Advisories will become Cold Weather Advisories.