The Tolland School District board reviewed the draft 2026–27 school calendar and discussed trade-offs between family convenience and the district’s contractual and state training obligations. Superintendent Willett said the district must meet contractually required in-service days and mandatory state trainings, which limits how many early-release (ER) or full days the board can alter.

Willett explained the draft maintains alignment with the EastCon regional calendar, proposes a full day off on Nov. 25 (the day before Thanksgiving) and constrains any start date to no earlier than Aug. 24 because of collective-bargaining agreements. He said ER days are used for professional development and curriculum work ("CIA" — curriculum, instruction and assessment), noting that combining training with parent-teacher conference timing can be logistically difficult.

Board members, parents and students weighed in. A student representative said a full day off before Thanksgiving is preferable to a half-day because attendance often drops and a full day would be more useful to families and students. Trustees discussed moving one October ER to May to prevent several ERs clustering in October, and staff said the policy committee and FFC have already reviewed the draft and will continue that work.

No final vote occurred on the calendar; the superintendent said the board will hold two readings and consider public feedback before a formal adoption vote in a future meeting.