The Evansville Community School District will not hold school on Martin Luther King Jr. Day starting in 2022.

The school board approved the change to their academic calendar Wednesday night after receiving letters from a group of 5th-grade students.

Director of Instruction Scott Everson said it was part of a persuasive writing unit in their curriculum.

The students were initially assigned to write about whether they liked regular milk or chocolate milk better, but the students asked if they could write about something more important and came up with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day idea on their own.

Everson said the teachers ran with it as a “teachable moment” and gave the students the option to write about the alternative topic.

January 17, 2022 will be a professional development day for teachers, which Everson said they could use for inclusion and diversity awareness activities.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction considers Martin Luther King Jr. Day an “observance day” but individual districts can decide whether or not to hold class on the holiday.