Board tables 2025–26 school calendar, asks staff to return with alternatives and teacher input

The St. Martin Parish Schools Policy Council voted to table the proposed 2025–26 school calendar and directed staff to provide at least two alternative schedules for board consideration, including one that pushes the start date back by approximately one week.

Board members debated start dates, the placement of professional-development (PD) days and operational concerns such as classroom and bus heat in August, teacher payroll scheduling and the district’s extended school year (ESY) obligations for students who qualify for regression-prevention services. Several members said a requirement that teachers work at least 15 days before a monthly paycheck affects how early the district can begin staff PD and instruction.

One board member noted that ESY scheduling is constrained by the longest break in the calendar: state rules require the ESY program to start no later than two weeks after students’ last day and to end no more than two weeks before school resumes; that constraint factored into the discussion of whether the district could delay the student-start date. Members also raised the operational reality that many staff live in neighboring parishes and that aligning calendars with nearby districts can affect staff schedules.

The motion to table the calendar asked staff to present two alternate calendars and to solicit input from teachers, paraprofessionals and maintenance about which option they preferred. The transcript records a motion to table, a second, and the chair’s instruction to post the item for the next meeting with staff follow-up; the public record shows the motion passed.