Heat Will End Worcester School Year A Day Early

WORCESTER, MA — No need to sweat the end of the 2023-24 Worcester school year. An upcoming heat wave will end it early.

The school district on Monday called off classes on Thursday due to excessive heat. With no classes for the Juneteenth holiday on Wednesday, the school year will effectively end on Tuesday. Classes were supposed to end June 12, but the district had five snow days this winter, pushing the last day until Thursday — until the forecasted heat wave changed that plan.

"We are anticipating hot weather this week, with high temperatures forecast above 90 degrees Tuesday through Friday. As a result, school will be canceled on Thursday, June 20. In addition, Burncoat High School will be canceled on Friday, June 21," the district said in a Facebook post Monday.

Even thought it's probably welcome news for students, heat waves like the one predicted this week are an especially big problem in Worcester. Many of the district's buildings are decades old and don't have air conditioning, putting students and staff at risk in high heat.

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the Worcester area due to the heat. Thursday should be the peak of the wave, with heat indices expected between 95 and 104 nearby.