North Polk sets Jan. 21 public hearing on 2025—6 school calendar; board weighs double-routing buses and monthly full professional days

The North Polk board set a Jan. 21 public hearing for the 2025—6 school calendar after administration outlined a draft that would reduce the number of late-start Mondays and use monthly full professional learning days instead. The draft also pairs changes to building start times with a plan to double-route buses in order to reduce driver needs.

Superintendent Michael explained double routing allows a single required pre-trip inspection to serve multiple routes in sequence (for example, an elementary run followed by a secondary pickup), reducing the number of drivers needed in a day. Under the proposal discussed, elementary school start times would remain early (about 7:50 a.m.) and secondary buildings would shift to an approximate 8:20 a.m. start, with specific routing details retained to keep sibling pickups aligned where possible.

Administration emphasized the draft calendar would keep the total instructional hours well above the Iowa minimum (1,118 hours noted) while shifting the pattern of professional learning to fewer, fuller days that give teachers richer collaborative time. The board asked about staff survey timing; administration said a staff survey would be distributed the week of the meeting and the Jan. 21 hearing will allow public comment before final action.

Why it matters: Calendar changes affect families, transportation and extracurricular scheduling. The double-routing proposal aims to reduce strain caused by driver shortages while preserving teacher collaboration time.

Next steps: Staff to publish the calendar draft to employees, survey staff preferences, and present public feedback at the Jan. 21 meeting before any final vote.