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Calendar committee recommends a variable-calendar option; board hears student-welfare concerns
Summary
The calendar committee recommended Option 1 (a variable-calendar meeting state-hour requirements via extended days) for 2025–26; staff surveys showed broad support in many schools but at least one board member raised concerns about students who rely on school meals on days they might be out of session.
The Rockcastle County calendar committee presented two draft 2025–26 calendars and recommended Option 1, a variable calendar that meets the state—s 1,062-hour requirement by extending the school day rather than increasing the number of days.
Committee members said staff surveys across schools showed strong support for Option 1 at many sites; Mount Vernon Elementary and other staff representatives reported high percentages favoring the variable calendar. The committee also cited construction timelines and PD scheduling as reasons for the recommendation.
During board discussion, members reviewed tradeoffs: proponents said the extra minutes allow flexibility for construction sequencing and can support staff morale, while critics asked how the additional minutes would be used and whether instructional quality would be affected.
One board member (unnamed) raised a welfare concern: —I've worried about those children that are not getting fed at home,— urging the district to bolster plans for child nutrition if the district adopts a calendar that changes weekday patterns for families. Committee members acknowledged the concern and said further community input and formal board action are planned in January; the recommendation is nonbinding until that vote.
