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Board reviews two-year calendar proposal; survey open through Oct. 19
Summary
Chesapeake Public Schools presented two calendar options for 2026-27 and 2027-28, citing a late Labor Day in 2026 and summer construction scheduling as factors; the district will survey the community through Oct. 19 and present results Nov. 17.
Dr. Fallon Graham, director of planning, policy and research, presented two school-calendar options for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years and asked the board to solicit public input through a survey that will remain open through Sunday, Oct. 19.
"The biggest reason is Labor Day is late in '26. This pushes back the start of the school year," Dr. Graham said, explaining why the district proposed beginning school after Labor Day for 2026-27 and included both post- and pre-Labor Day options for 2027-28. She told the board the district produced two-year options to give families and employees advance notice for childcare and work scheduling and to allow operations like transportation and facility projects to plan farther ahead.
Dr. Graham said a post-Labor Day start in 2026-27 limits options because a late Labor Day pushes the last day of school into late June and complicates graduation dates, summer school, facility improvements and contractor schedules. She told the board that some summer construction contracts already have multi-phase schedules and that shortening the summer could increase costs or be infeasible for contractors who were given set completion dates.
The district will open a public survey that links the presentation and drafts of the calendar options; staff plan to present survey findings and request action at the Nov. 17 school board meeting but said they may need to defer to December if survey results are close and more time is required to digest feedback.
Board members asked whether SOL testing windows or contractor schedules would be affected; staff replied testing windows can be adjusted and that contractors' schedules and post-project reassembly work by custodial and administrative teams mean even small changes to summer length can have substantial downstream effects.
Dr. Graham said the district included winter and spring breaks aligned to neighboring districts, maintained teacher workdays between semesters, and removed planned virtual instructional days from the calendar options because Virginia law allows virtual instructional days to count only when school is closed for inclement weather or extenuating circumstances.
