The Lafayette County School Board voted to approve the calendar for the 2018 to 2019 school year at their meeting on Monday night.

One noticeable difference from Oxford School District’s calendar is the Aug. 3 start date. Last week, the Oxford School District Board of Trustees voted, after much discussion, to change the proposed first day of school from Aug. 6 to Aug. 8.

One group that will be directly impacted by the difference in start dates will be the 75 OSD students who attend classes at the School of Applied Technology. The School of Applied Technology follows the LCSD calendar, so the Oxford students will miss three days of instruction.

LCSD Superintendent Adam Pugh says the early start date is something the board chose with teachers in mind.

“Our teachers like to start school on a Friday,” he said. “That way, they can do all the first day of school activities and then both they and the students have the weekend to gear up for the rest of the school year.”

First semester breaks on the school calendar include Fall Break from Oct. 5 through 9, Thanksgiving holiday from November 19 through 23 and Christmas holiday from Dec. 21 through Jan. 7, 2019.

Second semester breaks will be President’s Day on Feb. 18, Spring Break from March 11 through 15 and Easter holiday from April 19 through 22. Graduation will be held on May 17 and the last day of school is set for May 22. Should inclement weather cause delays or cancellations of school days, makeup dates have been set for May 24, 28 and 29.

The school board also took the time to recognize 5 teachers of the year, as well as administrator of the year.

The next meeting of the Lafayette County School Board will be held on March 5 at 5:30 p.m. in the district boardroom.