By DAVID VITRANO

News Editor

LULING—The St. Charles School Board has approved the calendar for the 2009-2010 school year for a first reading.

According to the calendar, next school year will contain 177 days for students and 183 days for teachers.

Most students in St. Charles will begin school on August 13, 2009. The school year will end on May 25, 2010.

Teachers will begin the year a week earlier, on August 6. The week before the start of classes will be spent in workshops and preparing for students’ arrival.

The only major change between this and next year’s calendar is the timing of the Easter Holiday, also known as spring break. These vacation days usually occur the week after Easter, but in 2010 the holidays will be from March 29 through April 2, the week before Easter. This change was made because the state altered the days for state-given standardized tests such as the LEAP and the GEE, and these days are needed to prepare for these tests.

Although no major alterations to the calendar are expected before its official adoption, Superintendent Rodney Lafon has suggested that a note be added regarding the possibility of hurricane days being made up during Thanksgiving break, as they were this year. This, he said, is so parents have ample time and warning to alter any plans made for that time in the event of another major storm.

“This calendar is pretty tight in terms of the required number of days by the Department of Education,” remarked School Board President John Smith.

According to district guidelines, the yearly calendar should be ready in time for the board to act upon it by the time of its first meeting in December, which will be held on Wednesday, December 10.

The calendar should be posted to the St. Charles public school system’s Web site in the coming weeks.