The Region 4 Board of Education Calendar Committee has solidified the region’s school calendar for the upcoming 2020-’21 school year and, with the adoption of new state regulations, it was able to set a firm graduation date for the class of 2021, regardless of weather.

This year, the state changed its requirement that graduation ceremonies must be held after the completion of a school year; that earlier requirement meant that as the school year extended due to snow days, so did the date of graduation ceremonies.

First implemented as a way to keep the graduation date set so families and relatives could plan on a set graduation day, Region 4 began to integrate “snowflake days” (built in make-up days for emergency closings) into its regular school calendar. That policy will continue through the 2019-’20 school year.

Snowflake days currently appear on the school calendar in February, April, May, and June. If there are snow days prior to February break (as there have been this year), then the two snowflake days in February would be used as school days; if snow days were unused, snowflake days would become days off added to February vacation. If there are more snow days, then the next snowflake days, which are currently tacked onto the end of April vacation, will be used as school days, and so on.

For this school year, the scheduled last day of school is Wednesday, June 17, 2020, however, there are five snowflake days scheduled following that date if they are needed.

In light of the change in state regulations, instead of snowflake days, for the 2020-’21 Region 4 calendar there will just be snow days, which, if needed, will be tacked on to the end of the school year. If there are no snow days during the 2020-’21 school year, then the last day of school is scheduled to be June 9, 2021.

“The state’s decision to change its policy in regard to setting a fixed graduation date was a factor in deciding to move away from snow flake days in next year’s calendar,” said Region 4 Superintendent Brian White. “Additionally, I received feedback from our parent community about this practice that also informed our decision making.”

The Region 4 Calendar Committee also received feedback from parent leadership that snowflake days presented a hardship to some parents due to their unpredictability and affect on childcare situations.

In addition to the change in snowflake days, the 2020-’21 school calendar was created keeping in mind other districts’ calendars, as well as professional development days for teachers.

“By aligning our district’s calendar to other school districts in the region, we now have increased opportunities for collaboration in providing our faculty and staff with professional development,” said White.

The Regional Supervision District Committee unanimously voted to approve the 2020-’21 School Calendar as recommended by the Calendar Committee at its Dec. 5 meeting. The calendar is on the Region 4 school website www.reg4.k12.ct.us for review.