Wayne County students to get Memorial Day off

After protests from parents, the Board of Education officially decided Monday to give students the holiday off.

In exchange, the students will have to attend an early release day on Saturday, May 31.

State law requires a certain number of school days each academic year. A calendar committee consisting of parents, administrators and representatives from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro created the school schedule last spring to include the May 26 holiday as a school day.

But in the military community surrounding Seymour Johnson, parents wanted students to be able to observe the day out of school.