Board adopts 2025–26 calendar and bell schedule to comply with new state instruction-hour law

Union Public Schools on July 14 approved an updated bell schedule and the 2025–26 school calendar to meet newly enacted state instructional-hour requirements, Superintendent Doctor Federline told the Board.

Federline said the state law (House Bill numbers referenced in the packet as 1086/1087) requires either one extra day or six extra hours of instruction; the district chose the six-hour option and set the annual instructional time at 1,087.52 hours to stay in compliance. The board approved both the daily schedule and the calendar; administrators also will submit a required letter to the state accreditation standards office once the board-signed calendar is finalized.

District staff noted a small, operational change: the seventh-grade start time was adjusted to 7:45 a.m. (there was brief clarification during the meeting about 7:40 vs. 7:45), which staff said will improve bus routing because the district is combining seventh- and eighth-grade routes. The change was presented as a transportation fix after “challenges last year with transportation,” according to Federline.

Board members approved both the bell-schedule update and the calendar by recorded roll call votes. Staff said the calendar and required state notification will be completed after the board signs the submitted letter.

The approval means the district will operate under the revised hours and will submit required documentation to the state accreditation office before the start of the school year.