After Debate, Peabody School Board Picks School Start Date

PEABODY, MA — Peabody Public School students will start the school year on Aug. 31, after a 3-2 vote and lengthy debate by the school committee Tuesday.

Several factors, including the Sept. 1 state primary and a teachers' contract that prevents schools from being session on the Friday before Labor Day created what Vice Chair Beverley Griffin Dunne called a "perfect storm" for setting the schedule.

State officials are expecting a big turnout for the state primary on Sept. 1. The Welch School, the South School, Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, the McCarthy School, West Memorial School and the Burke School all serve as polling places in Peabody.

"I really think having voters coming to the schools the same day as the first day of school during the potential continuation of the pandemic," Griffin Dunne said.

But other committee members raised concerns about the continuity of learning by having students return on Aug. 31, closing schools the next day, having them return for two more days and then be off for four days over the Labor Day holiday.

Griffin Dunne, and school committee members Joseph Amico and Brandi Carpenter voted in favor of the Aug. 31 start date, while Jarrod Hochman and Andrew Arnotis voted against it.