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Board amends 2025–26 calendar to add administrative days and shift professional development
Summary
Lake County Schools updated the 2025–26 calendar to convert two early days into administrative days, move one January professional development day to February 17 and reallocate some PD into the winter break; staff described a summer PD program with two days in June and three days in July that teachers may attend to satisfy requirements.
The Lake County Board of Education voted April 21 to amend the 2025–26 school calendar to reframe two days at the start of the year as administrative days and to move certain professional development days to different times in the year.
Instructional staff told the board the calendar committee and school leaders requested the changes to provide teachers with uninterrupted time to prepare classrooms, participate in professional learning and reflect with teams. Specific changes described by staff included treating the described “20 eighth and 20 ninth” as administrative days (staff phrased these as dates on the front end of the school year), moving a January 20 professional development day to February 17, and placing some PD time adjacent to the winter break so students would be released on Dec. 17 for a half day while teachers would remain for PD. Staff also described a voluntary summer PD program: two days in June and three in July, with at least two summer sessions required to count in lieu of the administrative days.
Board members approved the calendar amendment in a motion and directed instructional leadership to publish detailed schedules and guidance to principals and teachers. Staff said the changes aim to prioritize student learning by giving teachers focused planning time and to accommodate new principals and staff during the transition year. The board formalized the amendment by voice vote.
Why it matters: changes to the calendar affect teachers’ preparation time, student release days and scheduling for school events; the district framed the amendment as intentional professional learning time to improve instruction and to ensure that teachers have time to prepare for upcoming grading periods.
Provenance: the calendar discussion and the motion to amend appear in the meeting transcript during the instructional/curriculum section.
