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Downingtown Area SD unveils draft 2026–27 calendar with flexible snow-day plan
Summary
The district proposed an Aug. 25 start, a four-day opening week preferred by teachers, a March spring break and up to five flexible remote snow makeup days before in-person June makeup days; administrators said the calendar is dynamic and will be finalized next month.
Downingtown Area SD officials presented a draft 2026–27 academic calendar that would begin Aug. 25 and use flexible remote instruction for snow days before resorting to in-person makeups, administrators said.
Dr. O'Donnell framed the calendar proposal and asked Dr. Reed and Rob to review highlights. Rob said the first week would be four days "which...was consistent feedback" from teacher leadership, and that moving the spring break into March allows the district to get more instructional days before testing windows. He explained the district will use up to five flexible snow makeup days (remote instructional days for K–12) first; only in the event of extraordinary weather with power outages would the district cancel and make up the day in person, sometimes by shifting a professional development day.
Rob walked through other calendar details: religious holidays (one Jewish holiday in September and Eid on March 9), a kindergarten conference day in March, the PSSA window beginning April 20 and Keystone/AP/IB testing in May, with a proposed final student day of June 4 and graduations the first week of June. Board members expressed concern about the long April–May stretch during testing and noted survey feedback was divided; administrators said the calendar will return for further consideration next month before being sent to families.
No formal vote on the calendar was recorded in the provided transcript.
