Why There's No School Thursday

From the public school system's e-newsletter:

Again this year, schools will be closed for students on the fourth Thursday of April. The practice started last year in response to requests from school administrators for help in addressing high student absenteeism on Take Your Child to Work Day. The HCPSS supports the idea of parents involving their children in their professional lives as a positive way for young people to learn about the world of work. However, Take Your Child to Work Day adversely affected the instruction at many Howard County schools when only a handful of students showed up for school on that day. Our solution was to move the Professional Development Day for educators, which was traditionally scheduled in March, to the fourth Thursday of April.

Is this the ideal solution? Probably not. However, we are open to alternative solutions that support teaching and learning while also supporting parents who wish to participate in Take Your Child to Work Day.