Framingham School Committee Approves 2016-17 Calendar

The Framingham School Committee approved the 2016-17 school calendar Tuesday at 11:18 p.m.

The vote came after an 11th hour motion by Committee member Jim Kelly, to eliminate a second day off for the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah and to reduce Good Friday in 2017 to a half day.

The vote on the calendar was scheduled for 9:35 p.m, but the School Committee was far behind on its agenda and a vote didn’t take place until four hours into the meeting.

Kelly, about his motion, said most “businesses do not celebrate the Jewish holiday”, and the move would allow Framingham students to get out of school on June 13th, as opposed to the proposed June 15th as the 180th day of school.

A draft calendar was unveiled at a Framingham School Committee meeting earlier this month.

A Committee comprised of parents, teachers, staff, principals and administrators reached a consensus on the calendar, said Framingham’s Chief Academic Office Sonia Diaz, but not without lengthy discussions on early release days and religious holidays.

Kelly’s motion was defeated 1-5, with only Kelly supporting it (Committee member Eric Silverman was not in attendance. Chair Beverly Hugo said he was sick.)

After Kelly’s motion, there was more discussion on the calendar.

Committee member Michelle Brosnahan asked Diaz why school starts before Labor Day?

There was a request to Diaz for her Committee to look at getting rid of February vacation for the 2017-18 school year.

The Committee voted on the draft calendar and approved it 5-1.

School will start in Framingham before Labor Day, again in 2016-17

Students will start class in August, and members of the Framingham High Class of 2020 starting school on a Friday in August.

The proposed 180th day of school is Thursday, June 15, 2017.

The approved calendar has three weeks of vacation, plus two very long weekends in October, to observe the Jewish holidays.

Some key dates in the 2016-17 school calendar:

• Thursday, August 25: Superintendent of Schools Convocation to teachers & staff
• Friday, August 26: Freshman orientation at Framingham High for Class of 2020
• Friday, August 26: Professional development day for teachers
• Monday, August 29: First day of school for students in grades 1-12
• Tuesday, August 30: First day of school for kindergarten students
• Monday, Sept. 5: Labor Day - no school
• Thursday, Sept. 29 - First early release day for elementary and middle school students (There are a total of 9 early release days. It varies on who has which days.)
• Monday & Tuesday, October 3-4 - No school to observe Rosh Hashanah
• Monday, October 10 - Columbus Day - no school
• Tuesday, October 11 - no school - professional development day for teachers & staff
• Wednesday, October 12 - no school to observe Yom Kippur
• Thursday, October 27 - early release day
• Tuesday, Nov. 8 - Presidential election - no school for students. Professional development for teachers & staff
• Friday, Nov. 11 - Veterans Day - no school
• Wednesday, Nov. 23 - half day
• Thursday & Friday, Nov. 24 & 25: Thanksgiving break - no school
• Friday, Dec. 23 - half day (Christmas falls on a Sunday in 2016)
• Monday, January 2 - no school
• Monday, January 16 - Martin Luther King Jr. holiday
• February 20-24, 2017 - vacation
• Friday, April 14 - Good Friday - no school
• April 17-21 - vacation
• Monday, May 29 - Memorial Day - no school
• Sunday, June 4 - Graduation for the Framingham High Class of 2017
• Thursday, June 15 - proposed 180th day of school