Staff Writer

Although school is still in session and summer is just around the corner, the RSU 21 school board has already approved next year’s start date.

Children in grades one through nine will start Monday, Aug. 30, and classes for students in grades 10, 11 and 12 will start Tuesday, Aug. 31 – the week before Labor Day.

Graduation is scheduled for June 5, 2011 for seniors and the last day of school for all others will be June 16, 2011, if there are no more than five snow days.

The students will be in school for four days before a four-day weekend for the Labor Day holiday. Staff will be back in their buildings Thursday, Aug. 26.

John Sharood, school board member, said he thought students should start before Labor Day to give them more time in the classroom.

Some assessment tests for the district like the Advanced Placement tests in the spring and the New England Common Assessment Program tests in the fall, have set dates that can not be changed according to the district’s schedule. 

Sharood said he felt allowing students to be in school longer before the assessments took place gave them a better chance at scoring higher.

Maureen King, chairman of the school board, said she was not in favor of the pre-Labor Day start.

“Parents like that last two weeks to spend with their kids,” King said.

She also cited the need for high school workers during the last two weeks of the season. King said with students back in college some merchants struggle, especially if their high school aged staff is back in school as well.

King said the district’s start date always garners the most feedback from parents and residents.