Dayton Public Schools students will be getting an extra long holiday. The Dayton Board of Education voted on Tuesday to extend Thanksgiving break into Winter Break. That means classes will end on Friday, November 20 and won’t resume until January 4, 2021.
Elizabeth Lolli, superintendent of Dayton Public Schools says the board opted for an extended break instead of virtual learning due to the high number of recent absences.
“The real reason behind all of this is we have people that aren’t coming to school," she says. "We have students that aren’t coming to school whether it’s virtually or in class. We have staff members that aren’t coming to school.”
Lolli says the goal of this is not only to keep students and teachers safe, but to allow for more effective, in-person learning for students.
“The real hope is that by January everyone can come back to work, everyone can come back to school, she says. "And when we open back up face-to-face hopefully in February, everyone will be able to hit it hard and pick up those extra days in June that we’ve already added onto our calendar because we’ve missed so much time with face-to-face instruction.”
Meals will continue to be provided seven days a week for students who need them.