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Board reviews draft Western regional BOCES calendar and implications for West Seneca school year
Summary
Superintendent shared the draft Western JMT (joint management team) calendar being developed across local BOCES and discussed implications for West Seneca's 2025–26 student calendar, snow-day planning, half-day scheduling and holiday alignment.
District leaders reviewed a draft regional calendar produced by the Western Joint Management Team (JMT) — Niagara Orleans BOCES, Erie 1 BOCES and Erie 2 BOCES — and discussed how West Seneca will adopt a district calendar that aligns where possible with the regional plan.
The superintendent told the board the regional calendar is a draft and that Erie 1 BOCES had not yet adopted it; the draft will inform the district’s own calendar meeting, scheduled locally on Jan. 30. The board heard that the draft shifts the school start toward Labor Day (earliest practical start near Sept. 1) and aims to preserve a two-week December break while building in several snow-recovery days.
Administration advised that teachers’ contracts and Regents exam timing constrain start and end dates: the district can bring teachers in before Sept. 1 only with union agreement, and Regents exam scheduling largely determines the end-of-year student calendar. The superintendent said districts typically use an average of the last five years of snow days to plan built-in snow days (three to five is common) and maintain contingency plans to recoup additional days if needed.
Board members asked for data on absenteeism on half days and the district agreed to provide attendance patterns for half days in a future update. The board also discussed whether to adopt a consistent spring break date independent of the Easter/Good Friday calendar; administrators cautioned that differing district breaks would complicate schedules for BOCES programs and shared services.
No formal action was taken; administration will present a drafted West Seneca student calendar to the board for adoption following the local calendar meeting.
