The 2016-2017 school year will ring in earlier for students in Pasco and Hillsborough counties.
Students in Pasco County will begin next school year on Aug. 15 and will finish it on May 26.
The Pasco County School Board approved the new calendar without discussion.
“The purpose for the earlier start date is to allow secondary students to complete semester exams before winter break,” according to Linda Cobbe, the Pasco County school district’s spokeswoman.
“It also lets us end the school year before June,” she noted.
The adopted calendar has six fewer days in the first semester than in the second semester. The third quarter has the most days, and the others all have roughly the same number of days.
Kenny Blankenship, president of the United School Employees of Pasco, said he thinks students do benefit from having the opportunity to take their semester exams and end of course exams before the winter holidays.
This school year, the end of the first semester in Pasco County is Jan. 14. Next school year, it will be Dec. 22.
Students’ first day of school in Hillsborough County next school year is Aug. 10. The district’s first semester will end on Dec. 16.
The last day in Hillsborough County for students will be May 26, 2017.
Published November 18, 2015
