SAD 53 may get different calendar

PITTSFIELD — A new school calendar may be approved at the October meeting of the SAD 53 board of directors.

Among the changes being discussed by the board is the suggestion to start the school year later, an idea favored by school director Mindy Loveitt of Pittsfield. “I feel we should never go back to school before Labor Day,” Loveitt told Superintendent of Schools Terrance McCannell.

But Loveitt’s desires may be dampened by the actual date that Labor Day falls each year. According to McCannell, Labor Day falls on Sept. 7 next year, much too late to begin the school year. He said he would propose starting before Labor Day next fall, but that if the Labor Day holiday fell early in successive years, the students could be returning after the holiday.

In addition, McCannell proposed changing the district’s traditional vacations. He suggested a single vacation week in March and two long weekends in April and February, rather than two full weeks in those months. The Christmas vacation would stay under two weeks in length and Thanksgiving would remain the same.

This year, he pointed out, school started on Aug. 27. Under McCannell’s plan, school would be dismissed the end of the first week in June.

Board Chairman Tom Wright suggested that board members with concerns about the school calendar contact McCannell before the Oct. 7 meeting.