Under the adopted calendar, which was unanimously approved by the board, the 2022-23 school year will start Aug. 16 and end May 26. The school year will include 79 instructional days in the first semester and 95 instructional days in the second semester.
Winter break will begin Dec. 19 with students returning for the second semester Jan. 4. Spring break will be held March 13-18 with two potential weather makeup days lined up in April.
Additionally, the calendar will reflect four two-hour early release days modeled similarly to previous RISD academic calendars.
The district first reviewed two draft calendar options during the board's Jan. 21 meeting. After deliberating three options, RISD posted its top two choices online to solicit community feedback by the Feb. 15 regular meeting.
The district received 4,266 community responses, with over 3,000 responses favoring a later start date.
One alteration that was made to the calendar before adoption was to declare Jan. 2 as a student and staff holiday.
Under the original plan, staff would return for a development day on Jan. 2, and students would return Jan. 3. Looking for a way to start the second semester later, the district changed Nov. 7 from a student and staff holiday into a school day.
Interim Superintendent Tabitha Branum said at the meeting that this proposal would help alleviate the burden of staff having to return immediately after New Year's Day.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include the full name and title for interim Superintendent Tabitha Branum.
