Woburn Approves Pre-Labor Day Start To School Year

WOBURN, MA -- Summer will be cut short for students in Woburn public Schools this year. The School Committee voted 6-1 earlier this month to start the 2018-19 to set the start of classes for the Thursday before Labor Day going forward, regardless of when the holiday falls in September. That means teachers will be back to work on Tuesday, August 28 this year and students will be back in class on Thursday, August 30.

"If I'm going to go on the record, my recommendation is that we [always] start before Labor Day," Woburn Superintendent Matthew Crowley said.

According to the Daily Times Chronicle, which first reported this story, school committee member Rick Metters did not give a reason for voting against the proposal. The plan also calls for schools to be closed on the Friday before Labor Day, meaning students will be in classrooms for one day before having a four-day weekend.

The Woburn teachers Association maintains that school can;t start before the holiday unless there is a mutual agreement between the union and the district. But school committee Chairman Joseph Demers said the district had received opinions that under Massachusetts state law, the committee has sole authority to set the start of the school year.

The permanent changes has been debated in Woburn since at least 2009. Traditionally, Massachusetts public schools opened on the Wednesday after Labor Day unless the holiday, which is always on the first Monday in September, fell particularly late in a given year.

For more on this story, see the Daily Times Chronicle. Subscribe to Woburn Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).