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Holmen School District proposes 2025–26 calendar with Sept. 2 start, fewer early-release days
Summary
A staff calendar committee presented a draft 2025–26 student calendar that moves the first day to Tuesday, Sept. 2, trims early-release days to three, builds in two inclement-weather days and standardizes parent-teacher conference dates; staff said the calendar meets state minute requirements and will be brought back for board action on Jan. 27.
Human-resources director Melissa Cates presented the proposed 2025–26 student calendar on Jan. 13, describing the committee process, stakeholder feedback and several substantive changes from recent years.
Cates said a committee of administrators met four times, solicited staff feedback and ran a teacher survey that 176 teachers completed; 97 of those respondents ranked the committee’s first draft as their top choice. The proposed calendar moves the first day of school to Tuesday, Sept. 2 (the first day after Labor Day), with the last day projected as Friday, June 5. Cates said the draft includes two built-in inclement-weather days and meets Department of Public Instruction minute requirements.
The proposal drastically reduces early-release (ER) days from recent years to just three: two tied to the paired parent-teacher conference weeks and a final-day early release. Parent-teacher conferences will be aligned districtwide on the same dates twice per year, with one conference week using a Tuesday evening session and the following week using a Thursday with an early release (high school/middle school conferences roughly 1 p.m.–7 p.m., elementary conferences roughly 2 p.m.–8 p.m.). The Friday after each Thursday conference would be a student non-school day.
Cates said the district will work with principals to preserve the staff meeting and professional-development work previously done during ER days through alternative scheduling. She also said early-childhood outreach events previously held on ER days will be accommodated in the new calendar.
Questions from board members included whether parents who have children in multiple buildings could use a linked sign-up system for conferences, and a question about regional alignment of start dates; staff noted state law requires start after Sept. 1 and that DPI offers limited exceptions (for construction or documented transportation/fiscal impacts). The calendar will appear on the Jan. 27 consent agenda for board action.
