The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education made the decision to give students the entire week of Thanksgiving off during a board meeting on October 21.
Monday, November 22, will now be an optional teacher workday, while November 23-24 have been designated as “wellness days” for students and faculty/staff.
The Board of Education made the schedule change “in response to a call for more support for mental health,” district superintendent Nyah Hamlett wrote in a community email on October 22.
February 14 has also been designated a “wellness day” by the district.
The Board also plans to implement “Mindful Mondays” and “Wellness Wednesdays” in January of 2022 in order to ease students’ high stress levels.
Both students and teachers at Chapel Hill High School expressed appreciation for the board’s decision.
“It’s great. I now have more time to relax,” junior Nathan Grotgut said.
“Students needed the break, and we don’t really do anything on the days leading up to Thanksgiving in class anyways,” social studies teacher Bill Melega added.
The Board of Education also approved two-year retention bonuses for most school employees. The district will pay $1,000 to all faculty and staff employed as of October 31, 2021; those who continue with their employment through October 31, 2022 will receive a second stipend of $500.
