Next year, students at Springfield Public Schools will have a shorter winter break. This comes after Missouri legislators mandated that school districts must start their school year no earlier than two weeks before Labor Day. This puts the start date for SPS on Monday, August 24.Stephen Hall is a spokesman for the school district. He says the district collected feedback from students, parents and teachers and is working to make sure school will get out before Memorial Day. At the same time, the district has to balance a minimum learning hour requirement and the need to coordinate the calendar to match other schools in Springfield.
“Right now, our school year will end right before the holiday break, around December 19th," Hall told KSMU. "We would be looking at December 22nd for the next school year. So, not a significant shift, but there is a need to reduce that in order to protect the number of learning days, and still incorporate the community feedback that they want to get out of school as close to Memorial Day as possible.”
The Board of Education is expected to vote on approving next year’s calendar on Tuesday, November 18.
Copyright 2021 KSMU. To see more, visit KSMU. 9(MDA3OTgyNDI4MDEzMTM0MjQzMTZlNDI0Mg004))