Outside King Robinson during April 2's primary.
Because classes were closed for last month’s presidential primaries, the last day of school for New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) this year will be Monday, June 17 rather than Friday, June 14.
At a Feb. 13 meeting, the school board voted to approve making the April 2 Presidential Preference Primary a day off from school.
The board approved the change unanimously at the time, which required the school year to be slightly extended in order to meet the state requirement of having 180 days in the academic year. Now, rather than the last day of school being Friday, June 14, it’s Monday, June 17. School community members were notified of the calendar change.
At that Feb. 13 meeting, Mayor Justin Elicker encouraged district staff to find a way to keep schools open on future Election Days, so students have “as much exposure as possible.”
Despite this, he agreed that the April 2 date was too close at the time to begin rethinking the superintendent’s decision and therefore voted to approve the calendar change.
“I understand that there’s always logistical issues with this, but it would be nice to find a pathway to keep our schools open on Election Day. I know that part of the school is used, but it’s unfortunate we have to close schools for every election,” he said.
NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón responded that she did not want to close schools but learned that the primary election required nearly all public school buildings, meaning “there’s no way that we would be able to maintain our normal operations of schooling.”
Negrón added that the primary day closure put NHPS at its limit for the two pre-determined “snow days” or days off for this year. To avoid another 179-day school year, the district extended the school year to a final Monday on June 17.
Watch the Feb. 13 meeting above.