The Instructional Committee reviewed three draft 2026-27 school calendars at its Aug. 13 meeting and discussed start dates, the late Labor Day holiday, December break length and how snow days would affect the last day of school. Assistant Superintendent Yerlott, who presented the drafts, said, “All of these are in draft form.”

Committee members considered three main versions. Version 1 would start students on Sept. 6 with district professional development (PD) on Aug. 24-25, give the district a traditional Labor Day long weekend and set a December holiday beginning Dec. 23; the last instructional day would be June 11, or June 18 if five snow days were used. Version 2 moves the start earlier (students start the full week beginning Aug. 24) and proposes a full two-week December break; graduation would remain on June 12 and the last student day would still be June 11 under that proposal. Version 3 keeps Aug. 24-25 PD days but extends the December break to two weeks by adding two days at the end of the year, moving the last student day to June 15 while keeping graduation on June 12.

Committee members raised three persistent concerns: teacher and student comfort in very early August starts at schools without air conditioning; the district's past practice of starting the week before Labor Day (which some in the union prefer) and how that would push the school year into late June; and childcare burdens for families created by multiple half-weeks early in the year. One committee member said an early August start might be "awfully early" for students doing summer extended learning programs. Members also discussed the union's historical preference to start the week before Labor Day, noting that honoring that would push the end of the school year later into June and could reach as late as June 25 depending on snow-day usage.

The committee did not vote on a calendar. Assistant Superintendent Yerlott said the drafts had been reviewed by administrative council and would be shared with the Concord Education Association for staff input; she confirmed the committee did not need to vote to send the drafts to the full school board for consideration. Committee members asked staff to prioritize gathering teacher feedback and community input on the tradeoffs between start dates and winter break lengths before the full-board review.

The discussion included scheduling details and contingencies cited by staff: professional development dates are proposed as Aug. 24-25 (with educational assistants and tutors beginning Aug. 26), graduation is set to remain June 12 across drafts, and the district's snow-day policy would add up to five days that could move the last day as late as June 18 in Version 1. Several committee members said they favored either Version 1 (which keeps more traditional timing and fewer long holiday stretches) or Version 3 (which preserves two-week December break by adding two end-of-year days) and suggested removing Version 2 from active consideration.

Next steps: staff will forward the draft calendars to teachers and the Concord Education Association for feedback, and the committee will include that input when presenting a recommended calendar to the full school board.