The Poudre School District Board of Education voted 6–1 on Dec. 9 to adopt the district’s proposed 2026–27 school calendar after a prolonged discussion that balanced heat-day relief for non–air-conditioned elementary schools against concerns that the plan creates semester inequities for high-school students on block schedules.

Teachers and staff who spoke during public comment said the proposed calendar would put as many as 14 more instructional days in the second semester than the first for some courses on block schedules, which they said can translate to roughly 1,200 minutes of instruction (about three weeks) and force faculty to cut units or reduce review time. Charles Stone, a Fossil Ridge High School science teacher, told the board that “1200 minutes less” would affect AP and college-level courses and create inequitable classroom experiences.

Amy Healy, a Fossil Ridge German teacher, urged the board to delay finalizing the calendar so the district could make adjustments to workdays and semester balance. Public commenters and several board members also raised the district’s heat-day history and the fact that many elementary buildings lack air conditioning; Superintendent Kingsley and calendar co-chairs said a later start was a top priority to reduce exposure to early-year heat and that some options (moving days out of breaks or adjusting semester boundaries) had trade-offs.

Calendar committee co-chairs (including Brian Keel) described options considered: shortening fall break, moving days within winter break, or ending the first semester after winter break to rebalance instructional minutes. Board members proposed possible short-term fixes such as moving one staff workday into the second semester but noted any change would ripple through staffing, concurrent-enrollment deadlines with Front Range Community College, and collective-bargaining agreements.

After discussion, the clerk recorded a roll-call vote: Carla Bayes, Connor Duffy, Kevin Havelda, Scott Schoenbauer, Andrew Spain and Jessica Zamora voted “Aye”; Caronda Ziegler voted “Nay.” The motion passed 6–1.

What happens next: The calendar will be posted and communications will explain trade-offs and the district said it will pursue additional community engagement and consider small scheduling adjustments (for example, relocating one workday) in future iterations.