Pasco County students and employees will have a full week off for Thanksgiving in the newly adopted 2012-13 academic calendar.

But there's an asterisk on that approval.

The School Board set Nov. 19-20, the first two days of that week, as hurricane makeup days, just in case. And the board also made clear that the week off is a "one-year deal" and will not necessarily be repeated in the future. They said they were able to do this because Veterans Day falls on a weekend.

"I look at it quite frankly as the possibility … to do something to improve morale," board member Allen Altman said. 

But "we don’t want this to become a bargaining tool," added vice chairwoman Cynthia Armstrong. "We really want them (employees) to know we understand the situation that they have been under."

Board member Alison Crumbley said she was willing to accept the proposal in part because the district calendar committee recommended it. "I don’t think instruction is going to be compromised," she said.

The calendar sets the first day of classes for Aug. 20, 2012, and the final day of classes for June 4, 2013. Winter break would run Dec. 24, 2012, through Jan. 7, 2013. Spring break would be March 25-29, 2013.