Flagstaff Unified approves 2025-26 calendar, shifts secondary schools to later start times

The Flagstaff Unified School District Governing Board on Tuesday approved the 2025-26 school calendar, adopting a schedule that will shift middle and high school start times later and move elementary start and release times earlier beginning in August 2025.

Superintendent Kurt Penza said the change grew from committee work, research and community input and is intended to give the district a lever to address adolescent sleep and mental-health concerns. "If this change results in students being better rested, benefiting their physical and mental health, as the research seems to show, this change does have my support," Penza said.

The calendar committee and the district's negotiations committee recommended the schedule (identified in meeting materials as Calendar C) after reviewing research and community feedback. The board adopted the calendar by voice vote after a motion to approve. The motion to adopt the calendar was made during the meeting by Board President Eric Santor and seconded by Member Melissa Kirk; the motion carried.

Why it matters: research cited for the proposal links later start times for adolescents to improved sleep and, in some studies, better attendance and mental-health indicators. District leaders said the change is one step among many to support students and that they will monitor effects on attendance, participation in extracurriculars, after-school jobs and academic outcomes.

What the board heard: During the meeting's public-comment period, several teachers, students and parents urged the board to weigh a wide set of impacts before implementing the change. Kelly Marquez, a yearbook and photography teacher and high-school coach, said students were not surveyed for the start-time decision and urged the board to "please listen and take a chance to hear from student voices and student bodies before you make this decision." Student Grant Campbell told the board he collected about 200 signatures in two days opposing the change and asked the board to consider student views.

During public comment Holly Jones, who said she previously taught in the district, made a separate allegation about actions by district personnel going back to 2020; Jones told the board, "I was assaulted by one of your administrators." The board did not take formal action on any personnel matters during the meeting; the comment was part of the public record.

Implementation and next steps: District staff and the calendar committee said the change will be implemented at the start of the 2025-26 school year and that the district will track multiple indicators to evaluate the effect of the new schedule. Possible measures mentioned include attendance rates, participation in extracurricular activities, student- and family-survey data and other school climate metrics. Board members on the record said they expect a multiyear commitment to permit valid assessment of outcomes.

The board approved the calendar during the Jan. 28 meeting; the schedule change will be reflected in the district's published calendars and communicated to families with implementation guidance and details about before- and after-school care.