School board approves Option 2 calendar for 2025–26, eliminating early-release days

The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on Feb. 20 voted to adopt Option 2 for the 2025–26 school calendar, a plan that eliminates all early-release days, makes Feb. 18 an instructional day and increases teacher in-service days.

Board Member Nathan Russ moved the measure; Board Member Emily Soule seconded it. After public comment and discussion among board members and staff, the board called the vote and the motion carried.

The adopted calendar gives students 173 full instructional days and provides nine full teacher in-service days, according to district staff. The district said Option 2 adds roughly 1.5 instructional days compared with the original proposal and that the change carries no additional cost to the district’s payroll under the current salary schedule.

Supporters including Superintendent Lamont Cole argued the change would maximize student time on task. “If I had to pick tonight, I would pick option 2,” Cole said during deliberations, urging the board to prioritize additional instructional minutes for struggling learners.

Teachers and union representatives urged the board to weigh teacher workload and practical impacts on families. Valencia Johnson, president of the East Baton Rouge Parish Association of Educators, said the union still supports Option 1 but asked the district to clarify the goals behind adding days: remediation, enrichment or child-care relief. Johnson said removal of Ash Wednesday from the calendar had been contentious and must be viewed in context: “It’s not for religious reasons. It’s because it’s a high absentee day,” she told the board.

A public commenter who identified herself as a teacher warned of uneven substitute coverage and of students being unsupervised on half days: “What do bored teenagers do? They get into mischief,” she said, urging the board to consider why half days were scheduled where they were.

Staff presentation and board discussion

District planner Ms. Levatino summarized the three calendar options the board requested in February: the original option (171.5 instructional days with seven early dismissal days and Feb. 18 a holiday), Option 2 (173 full instructional days, nine teacher in-service days, no early release days, Feb. 18 instructional) and Option 3 (a larger change increasing teacher days to 190 with an estimated fiscal note of $6.4 million to cover added contracted days). Levatino emphasized that Option 2 and the other options still meet BESE calendar requirements.

Board members debated trade-offs. Board Member Cliff Lewis argued half days can be used for targeted instruction and teacher work time if planned around data, and said the district should collect data before eliminating them permanently. Board Member Patrick Martin and others said Option 2 better serves students by reducing fragmented instructional time and exposure to unsupervised hours.

Direction and next steps

The board approved Option 2 by motion, with no detailed rollcall tally recorded in the public transcript. The superintendent and staff said they will develop monitoring and accountability tools to ensure the additional instructional time is used for targeted intervention and instruction and that school leaders provide teachers with a full day at the end of each semester for grading and classroom wrap-up. Cole also said staff will convene monthly planning discussions starting in July to explore use of time and instructional strategies learned from peer districts.

Votes and formal action

Motion: “Adopt Option 2 for the 2025–26 school year calendar.” Mover: Board Member Nathan Russ. Second: Board Member Emily Soule. Outcome: Approved (motion carries; roll-call tally not specified in the transcript).

Why it matters

The calendar change shifts district practice by removing early-release days that many parents and teachers have used for grading, planning or childcare. The board and district framed the change as an attempt to increase student instructional time and reduce days when students may be unsupervised; union and teacher speakers pushed the district to safeguard teacher work time and to monitor outcomes.

Provenance

Topic introduced: staff presentation of calendar options, transcript excerpt "...we heard some of the concerns mentioned by some of you. I asked the team to go back and, and bring 2 additional options..." (transcript time ~4867.6). Topic last discussed / vote: chair called the vote and the motion carries (final vote recorded; transcript time ~6370.2).