School board looking to start 2020-21 academic year before Labour Day

By Logan Somers

BELLEVILLE – The local public school board is looking to start the 2020-21 school year before Labour Day.

The Hastings Prince Edward District School Board announced Thursday morning that it is seeking public input on two options for the coming academic year. Both options have students starting classes in the week before Labour Day – an unusual situation for Ontario schools.

This year Labour Day is Sept. 7.

The board is expected to decide on the dates at a meeting Feb. 24.

The first option for the school year has students starting classes on Tuesday, Sept. 1. The winter break would start on Dec. 21 and end on Jan. 1. The end of the first semester would be Thursday, Jan. 28, and the second semester would start the next day: Friday, Jan. 29. The last day of school for students would be Thursday, June 24.

Option 2 has students starting school on Wednesday, Sept. 2. The winter break would be the same as in the first option, but the first semester would end Friday, Jan. 29. The second semester would begin Monday, Feb. 1, and would go to Friday, June 25.

All professional-activity dates and the holidays for each of the two options can be found on the school board’s website.

The board says it wants to hear from “families, parents/guardians, employees, students, (community) members and other stakeholders” on the proposed dates. You can have your say by filling out a form on the board’s website. The form will be open until Tuesday, Feb. 4.

The announcement on the website says the public board co-ordinates its dates with the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board and the Kingston-based Limestone District School Board because of a common school-bus schedule.