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Board reviews two draft 2026'27 academic calendars; committee prefers clustered elementary early-release days and flexible hurricane makeup days
Summary
The calendar committee presented two similar 2026'27 draft calendars (A and B) that start Aug. 10, 2026 and differ mainly by one early-release date. The committee prioritized testing windows, state statutory requirements, and stakeholder preferences for hurricane makeup dates and parent-teacher conference scheduling.
The board reviewed two draft 2026'27 academic calendars recommended by the district's calendar committee. Both drafts start the school year on the earliest day allowed by Florida statute (Aug. 10) and align semester and testing windows to state requirements, leaving little structural flexibility.
Calendar committee lead Mr. Jensen told the board the committee included parents, teachers, AFSCME and MEA representatives, two student members, school principals and district departments. He said the committee's goals were to give families and staff advance notice of dates and to protect testing windows: "Some of the academic calendar is governed by state statute and requirements...the earliest day we can start school is August 10 per Florida statute," Jensen said.
The two drafts are nearly identical; the primary operational difference is the placement of one elementary early-release day (Calendar B moves an early-release from one Friday to another so early-release Fridays are not consecutive). Committee members explained the early-release days align with parent-teacher conference nights and teacher preferences to cluster release days near conferences.
Committee members also debated whether to designate specific hurricane makeup days on the calendar. The committee added several possible makeup days (including dates in late December and Jan. 5) but removed the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as a designated makeup day because of staffing and coverage concerns. "Parents said they preferred the first two days of the December break relative to the first two days of Thanksgiving break because you still get almost a two-week vacation if you eat into winter break a little bit," Jensen said, summarizing stakeholder input.
Board members asked about testing timing and the concentration of state assessments in May; staff explained writing assessments are administered in April to avoid overloading May, which contains many end-of-year exams. The district will post both drafts for 30 days and collect community feedback before returning a recommendation to the board at the May 20 meeting.
No final calendar selection occurred at the workshop; staff said the drafts will remain open for a 30-day public comment period and a May 20 recommendation to the board.
