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Some Maryland Schools Open Monday

LA PLATA, Md. (WJZ) -- Maryland vacation ended early for many Maryland students. Though it's a federal holiday, public schools in Howard, St. Mary's and Charles counties were open.

Andrea Fujii explains it wasn't without some opposition.

After more than a week off, Howard County students---including those at Cradlerock Elementary Middle---are back to the grind, even though most of their peers in other counties and Baltimore City are still on vacation.

"I was kind of jealous when everybody else was sleeping and I had to go back to school," said Katherine Lopez.

Besides students, some parents off for the holiday questioned the decision.

"We expected everyone to have the day off together so my whole family was surprised they had to go back a day early," said Darcie Bowers.

So the Howard County school system sent out an explanation. Jan. 2 is a federal holiday but they say it's not a required holiday for Maryland public schools. The letter went on to say in approving the 2011-2012 calendar, the Board of Education chose to open schools on Jan. 2 in order to end the school year as early as possible.

"Certainly, you speak to some students and they want to continue their vacation; you speak to some staff members and it's sort of mixed reviews but everybody's smiling, back to work," said principal Jason McCoy.

But for many parents who had the day off, having their kids at school was a holiday in itself.

"When they go to school, then you can get time to finish everything that you couldn't finish," said Petrina Cosmos.

Some private schools around the state also opened Monday. Starting Tuesday, all public schools are back in class.

Eight of the nation's largest school systems gave their students the day off in celebration of New Year's.

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