Starting out the new semester, the school district had Martin Luther King Jr. Day off for the first time. 

  When the administration was discussing the current academic calendar last year, they decided to have MLK day off.

  “We believe it is the right thing for us to do moving forward,” said the superintendent of the Pella Community School District, Greg Ebeling. 

  Many public school districts are closed on MLK Day. However, not all states or cities give students the day off. 

  However, the calendar committee and administration found they wanted to follow the majority of schools around the state who have taken the day off. 

  It was believed around the school that sophomore Jacon DeRuiter sent an email to administration suggesting that the school had MLK day off. However, when discussing this subject with Ebeling, he stated that “this is not true.” 

  When having the discussion, no one objected to the proposal, ending with a unanimous decision. 

  After the decision was made, the committee put it into the academic calendar for 2021-2022. 

  “I’m guessing that moving forward we will continue to have MLK day off,” responded Ebeling.