Salem Students To Get Extended New Year's Break In 2022-23

Salem MA

08 March, 2022

10:16 AM

Description

SALEM, MA — Next year's Salem Public Schools calendar will include a little padding to the end of the New Year's holiday break. The School Committee on Monday night followed up its vote on making masking optional in schools with a vote to extend the Christmas/New Year's holiday break through Jan. 6, 2023, during the next school calendar — essentially another full week off — which will include the Dia de Reyes holiday that many district families celebrate. (ALSO ON PATCH: Split Vote Sends Salem Schools Mask-Optional For Most Students March 14) An additional early vacation was initially proposed as a "November Break" to include the week of Nov. 8 with Election Day and Veterans Day already off in 2022-23 as a way to give staff and students a chance to pause two months into the school year. While Superintendent Steve Zrike said 65 percent of families surveyed were in favor of the added break, further discussion evolved into the School Committee debating between a Halloween pause Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, the original November break and the post-holiday vacation extension. The School Committee voted unanimously to approve Jim Fleming's motion that argued that what would have been a shorter Christmas break next year — just eight days including weekends — combined with the Dia de Reyes holiday (also known as the Ephiphany or Three Kings Day) where many students are often absent on Jan. 6 made that the best choice of the three. Halloween break proponents said the unusual hecticness of the holiday in Salem combined with the timing made it the best choice for a pause, and November break proponents cited having two days off already that week made it ideal. But the New Year's vacation extension won out after School Committee member Dr. Kristin Pangallo said many experts believe the Northeast will continue to experience COVID-19 surges around the holidays for years to come and that the added days off will help buffer the return to schools. The School Committee ratifies the superintendent's calendar suggestions each year — meaning that an extended holiday break will be examined again next spring and is not a permanent shift for the district. (Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)