The Board of Education voted Friday to close New Haven public schools on Friday, Jan. 2 — after hearing from the state that the city was the only district in Connecticut scheduled to come back from winter recess for a one-day school week. The school board voted 6-0 to amend the district’s ca lendar that previously would have had students and staff return to school on Friday, Jan. 2 after being out from Wednesday, Dec. 24 through Thursday, Jan. 1. New Haven’s Board of Education took that vote during a special meeting held via Zoom. New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Supt. Madeline Negrón recommended the calendar change at Friday’s meeting. She cited concerns about attendance as well as feedback from the state. “Through our engagement with the State Board of Education, we learned that we were the only school district planning to be open on Jan. 2,” Negrón told board members. The district will maintain its previously planned closure for Tuesday, Jan. 6, to mark Three Kings Day. That means students will be out of school from Wednesday, Dec. 24 through Friday, Jan. 2. They’ll come back to class on Monday, Jan. 5; have Tuesday, Jan. 6 off; and then return again on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Negrón explained that the district initially built its calendar with 182 instructional days for students, exceeding the state-mandated minimum of 180 days. The extra days were intended to account for two potential snow days. With the board’s vote to close on Jan. 2, the district will now factor in only one snow day — bringing the total number of scheduled instructional days to 181. “We do have to ensure that by the end of the year, we have a total of 180 days for students,” Negrón said, noting that the calendar still meets state requirements. She added that district staff have been hearing concerns about potentially high student and staff absences if schools reopened on Friday, Jan. 2, prompting her recommendation to close. Board of Education member Edward Joyner, who made the motion to approve the change, emphasized that no other parts of the school calendar will be changed as a result of the decision. Negrón also said the district reviewed the potential calendar change with the teachers union during a recent monthly meeting. In response to Friday’s vote, Board of Education student representative and Career High School student Abdellah Aly — who had argued in this article that NHPS should be closed on Friday, Jan. 2 — told the Independent, “ENJOY YOUR BREAK PEOPLE!!!!” The post Just Kidding: Schools Will Be Closed On Jan. 2, After All appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less