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Goochland school board approves five-minute earlier morning start for 2025–26 calendar
Summary
The Goochland County School Board voted to move school start times five minutes earlier each morning for 2025–26 — a change staff said yields roughly two additional instructional days over a school year. The board approved the calendar as presented and will discuss broader schedule changes at a July 22 retreat.
The Goochland County School Board on Tuesday approved the 2025–26 school calendar with a five-minute earlier morning start for students, a change administrators said adds about two full instructional days over the school year.
School staff told the board that elementary start times will shift from 8:00 a.m. to 7:55 a.m. and secondary start times from 9:00 a.m. to 8:55 a.m. "It doesn't sound like much, but when you extrapolate that over 180 days, it ends up being basically two full instructional days," Dr. Armstrong said during the discussion.
Board members discussed operational impacts — including bus-stop wait times, daylight, extracurricular schedules and childcare needs — and agreed those issues warrant further review. A board member asked whether a longer school day could be considered later; the board signaled that larger calendar changes would be considered at a retreat scheduled for July 22.
A motion to adopt the calendar as presented, including the five-minute morning extension, was moved and seconded and approved by voice vote. Miss Worsing seconded the motion; no recorded no votes or abstentions were announced at the time of the vote.
The board's meeting materials list the changes as a short-term adjustment intended to recover instructional minutes lost after COVID-era schedule changes and to prompt a larger conversation about schedules and possible multi-year calendar adjustments.
The board adjourned and said it will revisit any broader calendar revisions at the July 22 retreat; the next regular business meeting is scheduled for Aug. 12 with a closed session at 5:30 p.m. and open session at 6:00 p.m. in the Goochland Administration Building, Room 250.
