Mineola School Board Lays Out 2012-13 Calendar

The latest draft of the has students coming back to classes on Wednesday, August 29 and then a long Labor Day weekend.

At the November 3 meeting of the , Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler gave an updated draft of the calendar for next year, which still sports 182 instructional days and March 25 and April 2 designated as snow days.

The Passover/ Easter break would still remain a week long, as the break begins on March 26 and ends on April 2 “so technically these two days could be off and the Passover holiday could still be intact,” Dr. Nagler said, gesturing to March 26 and April 1. The Passover holiday runs from sunset on March 25 through April 1, 2012.

Taking Monday, April 1, 2012 for a snow day would be “silly,” according to the superintendent, “so you get a full week vacation.” Some districts reportedly are giving their students Tuesday, April 2, 2012 off while others are not.

It is not possible to get 182 days of instruction otherwise without cutting into breaks according to the superintendent. Some districts are also bringing children back on election day, which for 2012 is a presidential contest. “You’re going to have a lot of people in your buildings,” Dr. Nagler said. “So I don’t know how fine it is to have your communities in your buildings voting while your kids are there.”

The superintendent suggested making the August return a three-day week beginning on August 28 and adding a day either onto the Memorial Day weekend or the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

“The reason I would say to bring them back for three days is it gives me more time to do things during this week,” he said, indicating that the NWEA exams would be administered during those three days.

The consensus  of the board was to give the extra day back on the Memorial Day weekend.

“You already as parents have to budget that week,” board president Christine Napolitano said. “I think if it helps and you get an extra day somewhere else like memorial day or whatever, why not? They’re going to be here anyway.”