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Coronado joint calendar committee recommends two-year rollback; trustees send plan to negotiators
Summary
A joint Coronado Unified calendar committee recommended a two-year rollback to the district school calendar so that the first semester would end before winter break by the 2026—27 school year, handing its findings to the district and teachers' negotiators for bargaining.
A joint calendar committee convened by Coronado Unified presented two proposed school calendars and a recommended two-year rollback that would move the district start date earlier by one week in each of two years so the first semester ends before winter break.
Committee members said the plan is intended to address student stress around finals and better align terms with AP and state testing. "Students brought up at the superintendent's advisory council this concept of potentially changing the calendar," said a committee facilitator, summarizing the student input. The committee proposed starting Aug. 18 and ending June 4 in 2025—26, then starting Aug. 10 and ending May 28 in 2026—27 so summer shortens by one week per year toward a full two-week rollback.
Why it matters: Students and staff told the board the timing of finals and long winter breaks can harm focus and academic continuity; proponents argued balanced terms would better position students for testing and for sequential courses such as AP classes. The committee also cited the desire to align more closely with neighboring districts.
What the committee did: The committee's work, which the district said included parents, teachers (ACT representatives), administrators and two students, produced two draft calendars and a recommended rollout schedule. Student representatives described a paper-based homeroom survey the committee used — 677 student responses collected in roughly 10 minutes during homeroom — and urged caution about the rapid collection method. "There was less than 10 minutes before the students first heard the word calendar and when their responses were due," one student presenter said in a description of the survey method.
Concerns raised: Teachers and classified staff reported mixed results from their surveys and flagged heat in classrooms as an urgent implementation concern. "I respectfully request that the board, district administrators and site administrators take immediate action on heat mitigation plans," a teacher representative said, describing staff health effects from overheated classrooms.
Process and next steps: Trustees clarified the committee's role as advisory: the calendar committee made recommendations and the district and Association of Coronado Teachers (ACT) negotiating teams must now try to reach a tentative agreement. One trustee said the committee's report is informational and that the board expects negotiators to work toward a final calendar to publish by March 13. Several public speakers and CSEA representatives asked for more inclusive process and argued that CSEA should have had a formal seat on the committee; trustees and staff said the membership followed the MOU that created the committee.
What to watch: Negotiations between the district and ACT are expected to resume; trustees said they will consider the committee's recommendations alongside safety concerns such as heat mitigation and impacts on extracurricular athletics and community programs.
Speakers (selected): Superintendent Mueller (Superintendent), Dr. Megan Battle (Senior director of learning; committee facilitator), Sean Wilbur and Griffin Wong (CHS students, student advisory committee), Ramona Loisel (CMS teacher), Nancy McGreevey (CHS teacher), Nicole Molynue (Silver Strand ACT representative).
Authorities: MOU establishing joint calendar committee (referenced by committee and staff); California education-code references to instructional minutes and collective bargaining requirements (referred to during discussion of negotiators' role).
Actions: The calendar committee formally presented recommendations to the board; no board vote was taken on the calendars. Negotiators were directed to continue bargaining; the board expects possible final calendars to be published by March 13 and a formal student calendar decision to appear at a future meeting.
Provenance: Presentation begins at 00:37:27 and the committee recommendation discussion concludes at 01:18:15 in the meeting transcript.
