Starting next year, the Ketchikan School District will have a full week off for Thanksgiving. That’s after the Ketchikan School Board voted on Wednesday to approve the calendar schedule for the next two school years.
Currently, students have off Wednesday through Friday Thanksgiving week. District Superintendent Michael Robbins noted during the meeting that attendance drops substantially during that two day school week.
“It’s a pretty significant amount of attendance drop on that Monday and Tuesday versus the rest of November and really the rest of the whole school year,” Robbins said. “Those are our two lowest attendance days.”
Board member Keenan Sanderson expressed concern that some families will struggle to find childcare those days, with travel plans potentially reducing already limited options. But member Ali Ginter said she had spoken with the director of the Gateway Recreation Center, who said they could host a camp for kids that week, as they do during winter break.
The schedule change was proposed by a calendar committee made up of teachers and administrators. That committee conducted a survey of 385 community members, and almost two-thirds preferred the full week off for Thanksgiving.
The move will align the district with the two charter schools in the area, which are already on break the whole week. The two extra days will be added on at the end of the year, meaning school will get out on a Friday instead of a Wednesday.
The new calendar passed 6 to 1, with Sanderson voting in opposition.
