This is standard when there is a long break in between boards that they will not accept any application until X months prior. The next board is May, the one after that is August.
If they need to cancel another board it will show on the revised board schedule and the dashboard.
Correct, unless NRC updates the dashboard and board schedule saying cancelled keep planning for submission.
A recruiter cannot submit an application for a board that is too far out, it will get rejected by NRC, in some cases NRC will send out internal info saying do not submit for a specific designator until a specific time.