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Somerville officials present draft 2025–26 school calendar; propose live web list for cultural observances
Summary
School officials presented a first draft of the 2025–26 school calendar, explained DESE student‑learning‑time requirements, and proposed keeping the calendar limited to open/closed days while a separate live document maintained by the equity office lists cultural and religious observances.
Dr. Boston Davis presented the Somerville Public Schools’ first draft of the 2025–26 school year calendar during the Jan. 13 School Committee meeting and proposed a change in how the district publicly presents cultural and religious observances.
Dr. Davis told the committee the calendar’s primary purpose is to show days when schools and district offices are open or closed and that, per Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) student‑learning‑time rules, the district schedules up to 185 days and must operate no fewer than 180 school days. “That’s why our 180th day is the last day of school and we’re scheduled for 185 days,” Dr. Davis said.
The main procedural change Dr. Davis proposed is to publish a single calendar that strictly lists open and closed days and to maintain a separate, live document — managed by the Director of Equity and Excellence, Kaylee Gallitano — listing cultural and religious observances with links to resources. Dr. Davis said the live document would be easier to correct and update during the year without repeatedly issuing revised calendar PDFs.
Committee members asked for clarity in the calendar key so parents can quickly see which days are student instructional days and which are staff professional‑development days. “From a parent perspective… what do I want to know is when my kids are in school or not?” said a committee member who recommended adding clearer language to the legend (for example, “professional development — no school for students”). Members also suggested visual treatments (diagonal bicolor shading) where a date serves both roles.
Several members discussed the district’s longstanding “soft start” — a half day on the Wednesday before Labor Day followed by a full day Thursday — and confirmed that schedule is currently set by contract with teachers. “The short answer is it’s in the contract with the teachers,” a committee member said; another explained principals had favored the half‑day soft start as a way to ease students back into school and to support equity programs such as backpack distributions.
Members asked for a clearer treatment of holidays that begin at sundown. The draft calendar lists the date on which a holiday begins and marks those that start at sundown with a star; some committee members found that clearer than prior wording that said a holiday “starts the day before at sundown.”
Dr. Davis said the calendar will return to the committee for further review and that staff will consider committee suggestions — including adding a direct link on the calendar to the equity office’s live list of observances and including policy references explaining how the district handles student absences for religious observances.
No vote was taken; the calendar was placed on a future agenda for further consideration.
