(WTTW News)
Chicago Public Schools students could be heading back to classes even earlier this fall with officials set to vote on a new calendar for the upcoming school year.
The Chicago Board of Education will vote this week on the proposed calendar, which includes a start date of Aug. 22, 2022. That’s a week earlier than this year’s start date of Aug. 30 and well before the typical post-Labor Day start time for the district.
According to CPS, the calendar includes 176 instructional days for students, as well as four Teacher Institute days, four School Improvement days, two parent-teacher conference days and four professional development days.
The final day of classes will be June 7, 2023.
Chicago Public Schools' 2022-2023 academic calendar. (Chicago Public Schools)
Winter break would last from Dec. 23 through Jan. 6, and students for the first time would also get a full week off for the Thanksgiving holiday. Spring break will last from April 3 through April 7.
CPS said the proposed calendar comes after feedback was gathered from thousands of students, parents, staff and community members through a survey in February.
Those stakeholders were given two proposals to choose from, according to CPS, both of which aimed to start the year earlier than in previous years. Voting on those options was nearly split, with 24,409 votes for option one — which would have seen classes begin and end a week later, going from Aug. 29, 2022 until June 14, 2023 — and 24,001 votes for the second option.
But CPS went with option two because it was preferred by a majority of administrators, teachers, school leaders and students, according to the district.
The Board of Education will vote on the proposed calendar at its Wednesday meeting.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431
