By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The School Committee got a chance to weigh in on next year’s (2022-2023) school calendar this week and is expected to vote on the final version at its next meeting on Feb. 8. Assistant Superintendent Kara Mauro said that an effort was made to get the school calendar out early this year in order to give families a better opportunity to plan ahead.
Mauro presented two versions of the 2022-2023 school calendar, noting that the main difference between them is the first and last day of school for students.
She explained that the School Department’s preference would be to have Tuesday, Sept. 6 be the first day of classes. However, she said that the Town Clerk had sent an email advising the schools that there was a strong likelihood of a Primary Election on that date. The consensus was that having the first day of student drop-off happen on a day where there is voting at the Galvin Middle School could be chaotic. So the alternative calendar has Wednesday, Sept. 7 as the first day of classes. In most other respects the calendars are identical.
The issue regarding the Primary Election apparently is the state’s need to finalize the November ballot for military and overseas voters 45 days before the Nov. 8 Election. To know who to place on that final November ballot, state officials need to know the primary winners, which may necessitate holding the primary earlier than the Sept. 20 date currently scheduled.
The remainder of the calendar for September 2022 shows Wednesday, Sept. 21 is an early release day for staff professional development. Back to School Nights are listed on various dates in late September.
There will be no school on Oct. 10, which is the national Columbus Day holiday. School Committee member Stephen Ingalls asked that “Indigenous Peoples Day” be added to the calendar on that date. It was decided that the School Committee would discuss and vote on that at their next meeting, when they vote on the final version of the calendar.
Wednesday, Oct. 19 is another early release day for staff professional development.
Moving to November, there will be no school on Tuesday, Nov. 8, which is Election Day. More staff professional development is scheduled for that day. There will be no school on Friday, Nov. 11, in observance of Veterans Day. Thanksgiving Recess is Nov. 24-25.
Dec. 7 is an early release day for staff professional development. There will also be an early release on Friday Dec. 23 to kick off the first “Winter Recess.” School resumes on Jan. 3, 2023.
Jan. 11 is another early release day for more staff professional development. On Monday, Jan. 16, there will be no school in honor of Martin Luther King Day.
On Wednesday, Feb. 8 students will once again be released early for staff professional development. Monday, Feb. 20 is Presidents Day followed by another “Winter recess” from Feb. 21-24.
Wednesday, March 15 is an early release/staff professional development day.
April 5 is an early release day for PreK-grade 4 conferences.
Monday, April 17 is the statewide Patriots Day holiday. There will be no school that week, April 17-21, for “Spring Recess.”
Tuesday, April 25, is the day of the Annual Town Election. There will be no classes and staff will have professional development scheduled for that day.
There will be more staff professional development on Wednesday, May 17, an early release day. Friday, May 26 is the last day for high school seniors. There will be no school on Monday, May 29, Memorial Day.
Saturday, June 3 is High School Graduation Day. Wednesday, June 7 is an early release day for staff professional development. Friday, June 16 is the last day of school (assuming no snow days) and Tuesday, Sept. 6 as first day of school. If school starts on Wednesday, Sept. 7, then the last day of school will be Tuesday June 20, 2023 assuming no snow days.
Assuming five snow days, the last day of school would be Monday, June 26. If that happens, there would be no school on June 19, in observance of “Juneteenth.”
