NORTH LOGAN—As Cache Valley residents prepare to return to work and school after the school districts’ Winter Break, there is confusion in why Cache County School District teachers, students and staff will returned to school on Monday, a day considered a federal holiday in observance of the New Year.
Many school districts, including Logan City School District, are taking that day off due to the practice that if a federal holiday falls on a Sunday, Monday is considered the observed federal holiday.
“Teachers are state employees and should be off just like everyone else in the state,” concerned citizen Brett Christensen said.
He said teachers were also informed substitute teachers would not be available as the office that provides the service will be closed for the holiday.
CCSD sent an email responding to questions about the calendar and possibilities to switch the day school resumes after the Winter Break.
“With January 1st falling on a Sunday, the best practice would be to take Monday, January 2nd off,” the email stated. “However, when we put together our school calendar, we failed to recognize that discrepancy.”
In order for the district to meet their 180-school day requirement, the district email said the only way to resolve the issue would be to take a day from Spring Break or lengthen the school year by a day.
“We chose instead to move ahead as the calendar is now outlined,” the email said. “We know that isn’t ideal and apologize for any inconvenience this causes families. We hope you still can have a very enjoyable holiday break.”
Christensen said adding a day at the end of the year is totally fine and said most parents won’t send their students to school since it is a holiday.
“Instead of doubling down on their bad original decision, they should do the right thing and ‘give’ everyone the day off to enjoy with their families,” Christensen said.
Besides most businesses, federal, state and local offices closed on Monday for the observed holiday, Cache Valley Transit will also be limited.
“We were also recently informed that the Cache Valley Transit buses will not be running on Monday, January 2nd,” a second message from the district explained on Friday. “If your child relies on Cache Valley Transit to get to or from school, they will need to switch to a district bus route. Route information for district buses can be found on our website by going to www.ccsdut.org/transportation.”