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Niagara Falls board reviews 2025-26 school calendar, highlights one allowable August day and snow‑day make‑up sequence
Summary
District leaders presented a detailed draft 2025-26 academic calendar, citing a state regulation that allows one counted school day in August, planned professional days and a clear sequence of days to be reclaimed if snow closures exceed three days.
Superintendent Mark Lohrey and personnel staff member Maria Massaro detailed the Niagara Falls City School District’s proposed 2025‑26 academic calendar and staffing timeline and asked the board to approve the plan so it can be published to families.
The calendar sets new‑staff orientation for Aug. 18–20, names Aug. 28 as a superintendent conference day that will count as the single allowed student day in August, schedules a teacher professional development day on Aug. 29 and plans a soft opening for students the week after Labor Day. "We can only we're only allowed to have 1 day of school in or of counted school in August," Massaro said, citing the state regulation that limits August counted days.
The proposal also specifies winter and spring scheduling: the last day of classes before winter break will be Dec. 19, with 12‑month staff working Dec. 22–23 and returning after Jan. 5; spring break is set for Monday, March 30, through Friday, April 10, with students returning April 13. The last student day is listed as June 25 and the last teacher day as June 26.
Massaro and Lohrey outlined an agreed process to handle excess snow days. The district has three built‑in snow days; if more are used, the calendar provision lists a fixed order of days to reclaim (students would make up days in the sequence labeled as the 10th, 9th, 8th, 7th and 6th built‑in make‑up days). Massaro said the sequence was negotiated in advance with the unions so staff and families would not be surprised if additional make‑up days were needed.
Lohrey said the district expects to finalize staffing quickly: voluntary transfer and appointment work would begin immediately and the board would see many names in the June personnel report so votes can occur at the district’s June meetings. "If you approve this this evening, Maria will put it on the website," Lohrey told the board.
Board members asked clarifying questions during the discussion about which days count as student days, the timing of new‑staff orientation and the rationale for the two professional development days at the start of the school year. Massaro said the calendar was negotiated with union representatives and principals and that the superintendent conference day on Aug. 28 would be used to satisfy the one allowed August student day under state regulation.
The calendar discussion was presented as part of the personnel and calendar segment of the meeting; the personnel reports (certificated and classified items) were later moved, seconded and approved by roll call during the same meeting. The transcript does not show a separate, explicit roll‑call vote recorded solely for the calendar document during the meeting. The district indicated it will post the calendar once the board formally approves it.
The board said it will distribute the calendar to families immediately after final approval and asked staff to publish the schedule and survey families about related issues such as a proposed cell‑phone policy. "You'll start seeing that come out in earnest May 28," Lohrey said about outreach on related matters.
What happens next: the administration will move forward with transfers, appointments and the details needed to staff summer programming; the board will vote on personnel items and is expected to confirm the calendar formally at an upcoming meeting before the district posts it for families.
