Both began the new year of instruction Tuesday and the school year will end for students of both boards Thursday, June 25, 2009.

Both Halton boards have scheduled the maximum number of professional activity (PA) days allowable under the provincial Education Act, six, however there's a slight difference in their dates.

The public board has the same PA days for its elementary and high school panels. Those dates, all on Fridays, will be October 10, November 7, December 5, January 30, April 24 and June 25. The Catholic board has the same first five dates but its final PA day for elementary will be May 15 while the secondary panel's final PA day will be June 26.

PA days are meant to be used by teachers and administrators to develop teaching skills, evaluate and improve the student curriculum and communicate student progress to parents.

Both boards will observe the same eight statutory holidays when schools will be closed including the Christmas break (December 22 to January 2) and March break (March 16 to 20).

High school exams at both boards are slated for January 22 to 28 and June 18 to 24.

The 11 elected trustees and two appointed student trustees of the Halton public board will meet to discuss and vote on school-related issues the first and third Wednesday of most months during the school year. They meet at the education centre on the northwest corner of Guelph Line and Upper Middle in Burlington, beside M.M. Robinson H.S. The new start time for most public board meetings is 7 p.m.

The nine elected trustees and three appointed student trustees of the Halton Catholic board will meet to discuss and vote on school-related issues the first and third Tuesday of most months during the school year, at the education centre at 802 Drury Lane in Burlington. Catholic board meetings normally start at 8 p.m.

The complete school year calendars for both Halton boards, which also provides the names and phone numbers for all schools and senior board administrators, can be found by visiting either www.hdsb.ca or www.haltonrc.edu.on.ca.