Public schools in Baltimore City will close Jan. 20 to celebrate the inauguration of the country’s first black president, Barack Obama.
The school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to declare Inauguration Day a holiday after Jimmy Gittings, president of the administrators union, and Marietta English, president of the teachers union, urged the board to close schools. Some other school districts in the Baltimore area plan to give students leeway that day to miss school, but the city’s is the only that will close.
“This city needs to shut down on that day,” Gittings said. “Our schools need to be closed and children need to be sitting with their parents.”
English said she planned to travel to Washington, D.C., with her children and grandchildren to attend the inauguration. She expected large dips in attendance in city schools if the board did not elect to declare the day a holiday.
School board members asked students and teachers to spend the day with their families.
Meanwhile, officials from districts around the city said their schools plan to incorporate the historical significance of the day into classroom lessons.
“We look for ways to certainly mark the occasion, but there are no plans at this point to take the day off,” said Charles Herndon, spokesman for Baltimore County schools.
In Howard, schools will stay open, but students who want to celebrate the country’s new president are encouraged to use one of the three “discretionary days” they are given to take off.
In Anne Arundel, students’ absence will be excused if they provide a written note from a parent, and Harford students must have a note from a parent plus proof that they attended the inauguration, according to school officials.
The makeup algebra exam for the High School Assessment, a graduation requirement that takes effect in Maryland with the class of 2009, is scheduled for Jan. 20, school officials noted.
A number of Washington-area districts plan to close on Inauguration Day. Montgomery County schools voted Tuesday to close, joining Prince George’s, St. Mary’s and Charles. Washington and several districts in Virginia also plan to close that day.
Brian Morris, chairman of the Baltimore school board, said the school system would decide soon how to make up the day off.
