By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — While some members of the state legislature made an unsuccessful attempt this week to shorten the required 180-day school calendar for 2021-22, the local Board of Education managed to slice a day off its calendar for the current academic year.

The school board voted 5-0, with one abstention, this week to shorten the district’s calendar for students from 182 to 181 days.

The last day of classes for students, right now, will be Wednesday, June 22. The school year for teachers remains 188 days.

To see the Westport academic year calendar, updated as of this week, click here.

Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice sought approval for the change after he canceled classes for students on Monday, Jan. 3, while requiring staff to report to work.

At the time, Omicron infection rates were soaring. Administrators were not sure of the district’s ability to adequately staff the schools as the winter recess ended. The superintendent called the cancellation an operational emergency decision.

“Over the break, infection rates among our students and staff were beyond anything we experienced during the pandemic, and there were many reports of travelers struggling to return home due to many flight cancellations,” Scarice told the board via memo. “I intended to avoid a chaotic scenario where we might have had to send students home early at a school, or more than one, due to lack of staffing.”

By requiring staff to report on Jan. 3, Scarice said the district could accurately assess its levels of staffing, including bus drivers, and develop plans in advance of substantial student and staff absences.

That day counts toward teachers’ 188-day contractual work year. 

The school district also has already canceled classes on four snow days and could have more before the end of winter. There are seven snow days built into the school calendar. Anything more than that could eat into the spring recess, which is set for April 15-22.

Scarice said he anticipates no further interruption of student days because of the pandemic.

He did recommend reducing student days from 182 to 181.

Keeping the day in the schedule could cost the district money by adding to the staff work calendar, the board was told.

Board Vice Chairwoman Liz Heyer said the board was put in a difficult decision by not being consulted before the Jan. 3 decision was made.

“I am not sure this was an emergency,” she said.

Heyer faulted the process more than the decision, but added she is not sure she would have supported reducing the number of student days.

“I don’t really want to incur additional expense to maintain 182 days, which I felt was very important because of loss of learning time,” she said.

The school board approved the change by a 5-0 vote, with Heyer abstaining.

By state law, school years for students must be 180 days long. That requirement was modified during the pandemic and some lawmakers sought to waive the requirement in the current school year to help school districts that had to cancel classes because of COVID-related staffing shortages. 

Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration opposed the wavier and it was struck from a bill that passed the state House of Representatives on Thursday. The state Department of Education also opposed the shortened calender, arguing that students have already lost too much classroom time.