East Windsor Public Schools to Have Shortened February Break in 2014

There will be a few changes in the 2013-14 East Windsor school calendar.

Indeed, the calendar, which was recently passed by the Board of Education, cut down the February break from a full week to just two days off.

In addition, the school district modified its professional development schedule to include 10 half-days rather than three full days and one half-day that is in the 2012-13 calendar.

“That collapsed the number of days off for students,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Theresa Kane said in a telephone interview. That means that students will get out of school earlier in June.

The first day of school will be on Sept. 3, 2013 - the day after Labor Day. The two days of February break will be on Monday, Feb. 17, 2014 (Presidents Day) and Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014.

The shortened February break came in response to a survey that the school board conducted with parents and staff.

“The majority of respondents wanted that change,” Kane said.

The last day of school is tentatively scheduled for June 12, 2014. That accommodates a 182-day schedule; the state mandates that public school students receive 180 days of instruction before July 1 of a school year.

The changes to the calendar come on the heels of a challenging year that saw the district have to contend with severe weather that accounted for seven days of school cancellations.

That, along with a full February break and full-day professional development days, has resulted in the final day of school for the 2012-13 school year being scheduled for June 26.

The school board did not elect to make up school cancellations this year by cutting into February or April breaks. Kane said, however, that it is a possibility for April break to be shortened this year if there are more cancellations.