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Thanks to educators’ strike, students in Beverly will see Saturday classes
Students in Beverly, Marblehead, and Gloucester must make up missed days of instruction following educator strikes that closed schools.
Beverly students will attend school on five Saturdays, forgo their February vacation, and start their summer later, the result of a weeks-long educators strike in November that closed schools for 12 days.
In a Beverly School Committee meeting on Dec. 11, members voted to accommodate the missed instruction days by adjusting the school calendar to hold school on days it wasn’t previously scheduled for. These days will include Dec. 23, four days of February vacation, one Saturday per month from January to May, and two days at the end of the year on June 18 and June 20, said Superintendent Sue Charochak in an email sent to families Dec. 18.
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“Families who have pre-existing commitments during the newly scheduled make-up days, such as travel or other obligations, will not be penalized,” she said.
Three of the Saturdays that will have classes — March 8, April 12, and May 10 — will be early release days, and three previously scheduled early release days — March 12, May 23, and June 20 — will be rescheduled as full days. The only full school days students will have on weekends are on Jan. 25 and Feb. 8.
The last day of school is set for June 20, barring any weather-related closures.
“Should weather related closures occur, the official calendar allows for the last day of school to extend to June 27, 2025,” Charochak wrote in an email to families Dec. 12.
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The district was required to make up the days it was closed due to state regulations.
“Unfortunately, no option exists for a waiver to reduce the 180-day requirement, as it would require legislative approval,” Charochak wrote to parents Dec. 6.
Other districts that were part of the strikes have made similar adjustments.
The Gloucester School Committee voted Dec. 11 to make up days on Feb. 18, 19, 20, and 21 and June 18, 20, 23, 24, 25, and 26, ceding February break and extending the school year.
“If we have snow days we may have to look at holding classes during some of April vacation as well,” Greg Verga, mayor of Gloucester, wrote in an email to Boston.com.
The Marblehead School Committee voted Dec. 6 to make Dec. 23 and Feb. 18, 19, 20, and 21, which had been scheduled as vacation days, school days. For the other five days that need to be made up, Marblehead Superintendent John Robidoux surveyed community members with options that included April break, late June, and Saturdays.
“The results of that survey will be presented at our next scheduled meeting…it is expected that the School Committee will vote on the remaining days to make up,” said Jenn Schaeffner, chair of Marblehead School Committee, in an email to Boston.com.
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Marblehead’s next meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening.
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