What is MEA break? Why Minnesota students have days off in the middle of October

MEA weekend is quickly approaching this week, and parents are asking: What to do with the kids for the four-day recess?

The break from class is typically one of the busiest travel days of the year, a Minnesota tradition rivaling Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. That's because the statewide teachers union, Education Minnesota, has held its annual conference during this time for more than a century — giving families and educators time off just two months into the new school year.

"It gives them a chance to catch up a little bit," said Scott Croonquist, executive director for the Association of Metropolitan School Districts. "The run up to the school year and up through MEA is quite a sprint."

Here are four things to know about the MEA weekend:

The Minnesota Educators Academy is a one-day conference held annually at the St. Paul RiverCentre. Its origins date back to 1861 and Education Minnesota has the conference scheduled on the third Thursday of October each year through 2033.

Education Minnesota spokesman Chris Williams said the mid-fall timing allows educators to assess their classrooms and the skills they need to hone after the first few weeks of school.

This year, MEA weekend is on Oct. 17-18. The conference will take place in St. Paul on Oct. 17.

The MEA conference was spread out over two days until 2018. That's when the union opted to scale it back to one day after a U.S. Supreme Court decision that changed who could be required to pay for collective bargaining.

But many districts already had their academic calendar set for that year. Education officials said at the time that they kept Friday as a professional development day for teachers because it didn't make much sense to have kids come back to class after a Thursday off.

Many school districts across the state — including Minneapolis and South Washington County — give students three days off during MEA week.

These districts set aside Wednesday, the day before the MEA conference, for teacher training or parent-teacher conferences.

In Hopkins, which enrolls more than 6,800 kids and ranks among the state's 30 largest districts, middle and high schoolers are taking the standard Thursday and Friday off. But the district's elementary students have the whole week off for parent-teacher conferences.

"We have heard strongly from our families that the preference has been to have the week as a conference and professional development week," district spokesperson Jolene Goldade said.

Editor’s note: This story was initially published in 2023 and has been updated with information about the 2024 MEA weekend.