Sachem Schools Will Be Open On Presidents Day

Despite next Monday's federal Presidents Day holiday, the Sachem School District will be open and in session on February 18, according to Superintendent James Nolan.

Nolan notified that staff yesterday and calls went out to students and the community last night. According to Nolan the decision was made in order to comply with New York State's mandated 180 day school year. As it stands, there will only be 179 school days in the 2012-13 school year if the district did nothing.

By opening on Presidents Day, the district says, provided no other emergency closings, it will be able to maintain its regularly scheduled spring break in March.

The rest of the calender at this point looks like this:

• All schools will now be open on Monday, Feb. 18.
• If we do not lose another day, the Passover/Easter/Spring Break will remain from March 25-29.
• If we lose another school day due to the weather, we will be forced to open on March 25.

"I realize that the weather and the calandar have required great patience," Nolan stated in a release. "Thank you very much for both your patience and your support. Hopefully Mother Nature will begin to cooperate."

Earlier this week the district placed a poll on its official Facebook page asking the communities input on whether or not to open on Presidents Day. According to a release, while the poll was not the sole factor in the decision, the input did help the district during the process.

According to the poll, which garnered more than 1,300 votes, 802 voted YES, while 507 voted NO.