No School on Friday, April 3

Good Afternoon MPS Community Members,

There will be no school on Friday, April 3 due to a districtwide staff shortage. Given the amount of reported absences across schools and departments, and the continued rate of which staff absences are being submitted, there will not be enough staff in any school building to safely and effectively support teaching, learning, and building operations for students. 

As a result of this school closure, the school day will be made up in full at the end of the school year in June. The end of the school year will now be as follows:

• Monday, June 22 - Full Day of School
• Tuesday, June 23 - Full Day of School
• Wednesday, June 24 - Early Release Day
• Thursday, June 25 - Early Release Day
• Friday, June 26 - Roberts Elementary School Only Early Release Day (Norovirus Make-Up Day) 

District & school offices will remain open throughout the day on Friday, April 3. After school activities for students will not take place. 

Since the beginning of the school year, the district has been closely monitoring staff attendance on all religious holidays, including the upcoming Good Friday. In balancing the needs of the school calendar and building operations, we held meetings with Union leaders across all departments. Following these discussions, absence totals continued to climb at an even higher rate, prompting our message to the MPS community last Friday.

We recognize that unexpectedly canceling school creates real challenges for students and families. In the coming weeks, the district will be further reviewing our current policies and procedures relating to the school calendar and the use of religious holidays to ensure we can best support our students and Medford community. 

Sincerely,

Suzanne B. Galusi, Superintendent of Schools