THE Board of Education on Friday approved the Public School System’s school year 2021-2022 calendar that will bring back the traditional academic year period.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the PSS school year 2020-2021 began on Sept. 8, 2020 and will end on June 11 this year.
SY 2021-2022 will begin on Aug. 18, 2021 and end on May 24, 2022.
In an interview after the meeting, Education Commissioner Alfred B. Ada, Ed.D. said it took time to put together the SY 2021-2022 calendar.
He said they want to bring the PSS calendar closer to the private schools’, which conduct their own activities including sports events.
Ada said they also want to give graduating high school students ample time to apply for college admission.
In addition, he said, Saipan is hosting the Pacific Mini Games participants in June next year, and Marianas High School and Oleai Elementary school will be converted into “island community centers” for the athletes of the participating Pacific islands.
The mini-games organizing committee will pay for the cost of retrofitting the schools’ facilities, Ada said, adding that these improvements will remain with the schools after the mini-games “so they are also considered investments in the school system.”
Board of Education member Maisie Tenorio speaks as other board members and Public School System officials listen during a BOE meeting Friday on Capital Hill.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
