Emily Allen and Samantha Hildreth, co-facilitators of the district’s alternative calendar design team, presented a recommended nontraditional calendar for the 2027–28 school year and described the committee’s process and conventions at the Sept. 23 board meeting.

Why it matters: The calendar design team proposed a later July start (July 28), one week of fall break, a full week for Thanksgiving, two weeks at winter break and two weeks at spring break, with a professional development day scheduled the Monday after Easter. The presenters said the design balances community preferences, statutory limits (including the state rule that winter break not exceed two consecutive school weeks) and surrounding-district schedules while attempting to reduce predictable absenteeism days.

The committee said it used an interest-based process and held six two-hour meetings with representatives including parents, teachers, principals, classified staff and district personnel. Members said they reviewed absenteeism data, schedules in neighboring districts, facility costs, holiday rules and athletic/extracurricular impacts before agreeing on conventions. The committee recommended not starting school on a Monday and ending the school year before Memorial Day.

Next steps: Staff said the district will use a revised community survey to present both the traditional and proposed calendars and gather public input; the team will also host community forums, include executive-director introductions and return recommendations to the superintendent for the board to consider in November or December. The board did not adopt a calendar; it authorized the committee and staff to proceed with public outreach and return with the community response.

Concerns and follow-up items raised by board members and speakers included potential impacts on AP and state testing schedules, hourly pay and pay-period effects for classified staff, whether two-week spring breaks would harm hourly employees’ pay, and how sports, competitions and testing windows would be scheduled. Staff said pay days and contract days would not change; how paychecks are distributed across pay periods could change and would require staff and union conversations if the calendar is approved.

Public comment included a parent who said speech-and-debate tournament fees prevented a campus from hosting a tournament and asked the district to remove facility fees for such events; staff said they would follow up and investigate. The presentation closed with staff planning for a districtwide survey and community forums before making any recommendation to the board.