Hundreds of thousands of students in the District and Maryland powered on their laptops Monday for the start of a school year like no other.

The first day of virtual classes hit some snags. In Montgomery County, error messages flashed on computer screens when students tried logging on to their first classes. In Prince George’s County, two children missed half of their morning classes when pages on their school-issued Chromebooks would not load. In D.C., a hotline the public school system established to troubleshoot technology issues received 3,000 calls.

School system leaders spent the summer devising plans for the fall, weighing the possibility of bringing students back to classrooms for at least part of the school week. But as coronavirus cases rose and teachers forcefully protested plans to return, every school system in the Washington region decided to begin the year remotely.

“We cannot jeopardize the health and well-being of our students, staff and community,” Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Jack R. Smith said in a letter to families. “For our virtual learning model, our highest priority is to ensure excellence, access and equity in the learning experience for all of our students.”

Some families in the 163,000-student school district faced their first obstacle with online learning this year early Monday. When students tried logging on to Zoom or the online portal students use to access learning materials, they could not load the page or received an error message that read “504 Gateway Time-out.” 

The connectivity issues resulted from issues with CenturyLink, an internet service provider that experienced an outage Sunday, said Derek Turner, a spokesman for Montgomery County Public Schools. Turner said the issues were resolved before noon. 

Parent Kimberly Bishop and her three children assembled around their computers to log on to classes at Stonegate Elementary School in Silver Spring around 8:40 a.m., 20 minutes before the start of school. It took nearly a half hour for each of her children to get signed into their classes.

“It was very stressful,” she said. “They were late getting into their classrooms this morning.”

The school system, which is the largest in Maryland, plans on providing virtual instruction through the first semester, which ends in January. That plan drew sharp criticism from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan last week, who chastised school systems that did not plan to provide at least some in-person instruction in the fall. 

“Some of the county school boards have not even attempted to develop any safe reopening plans, which would bring any kids back for any form of in-person instruction,” said Hogan, a Republican. “This is simply unacceptable.”

In Prince George’s County, Juan Carlos Acosta said his two children, Noah and Mia, missed part of their third and sixth grade classes at Mount Rainier Elementary School Monday morning because pages on their Google Classroom account and their online student portals would not load.

Acosta, a management consultant, said his children’s teachers were understanding but the technical issues made the first day of school more nerve-wracking.

“That anxiety and that nervousness that was already there is just exacerbated when they can’t access their class or they’re late for a class,” he said.

Gabrielle Brown, a spokeswoman for Prince George’s County Public Schools, said two of the county’s more than 200 schools experienced problems because too many people were using the same web server. 

Brown said the 133,000-student school system fixed the problem by moving the schools to different servers. She did not say which schools experienced the issues. 

In D.C. Public Schools, some parents, teachers and advocates started the school year worrying students who do not have high-speed internet or a computer at home could be shut out of distance learning. 

About 32,000 families responded to a survey from the school system over the summer that asked about students’ technology needs. About 60 percent said they needed a digital device and 27 percent said they needed internet access.

The 51,000-student school system said it would supply tablets, laptops and WiFi hotspots to families that need it. Ferebee said some students might not receive the technology they need until after classes start. The school system has distributed nearly 19,000 devices and will continue to distribute them throughout the week. 

“DCPS is committed to promoting equity by ensuring every family who needs technology and support to complete learning at home has it,” Ferebee said Monday.

Some parents who received devices from the school system reported programs and services that did not work and long wait times on the technology hotline established by D.C. schools. Ferebee said most families that called needed to have passwords reset. He said the school system directed more staff to help address families’ technology troubles. 

Tom Bridge said his son Charlie, a second grade student at Capitol Hill Montessori School, could not access assignments on Canvas, an online learning platform. The boy could still participate in live instruction that took place on Microsoft Teams.

Bridge left a message for the technology support line around 9 a.m., he said, and had not received a response by late afternoon. Eventually, Bridge learned from his son’s teacher that he needed to reset the boy’s password. The father said he would wait before judging the school system.

“I always try to withhold judgement for at least a week,” said Bridge, who shifted his work schedule later in the day to help his son with school. “But beyond that, we’ll see.”

Other families were pleased with the first day back.

Nathan King’s children, Teddy, a first grade student at Brent Elementary School and Max, an eighth grade student at Jefferson Middle School Academy, accessed their assignments without any issues. He said D.C. schools provided helpful training sessions for Canvas and has been “very communicative.”

King said he is eager to have his children return to school so they can socialize with friends. But he is cherishing the time at home he has with the boys. They ate breakfast and lunch together and King talked them through the day.

“How often do you get to say that?” he said.

This story has been updated to include additional details about the experiences of some families.