Kings Park school leaders present first look at 2026–27 calendar after parents urge Passover alignment
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Egan presented a draft 2026–27 school calendar that balances state 180‑day requirements, BOCES coordination and AP exam timing. Parent Stella Musiakoff urged moving spring break to align with Passover; the board said the calendar is a 'first look' and will be refined with neighboring districts.
Superintendent Dr. Egan presented a first‑look draft of the Kings Park Central School District 2026–27 calendar, outlining constraints from state law and coordination with Western Suffolk BOCES and neighboring districts. The draft proposes teacher conference days Sept. 1–2 and discusses tradeoffs around starting school near Labor Day to preserve community requests such as the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off.
"It's not exactly a linear process," Dr. Egan said, explaining the calendar must accommodate shared BOCES schedules, Jewish and Christian holidays, and the timing of AP exams in May. He noted that preserving certain community‑requested days may require starting school before Labor Day or using snow‑day flexibility.
At the second public‑comment period, parent Stella Musiakoff urged the board to realign the second spring break so it fully coincides with Passover. "For Jewish families, this decision forces an impossible choice — either send children to school during a major religious holiday or keep them home for an almost full week," Musiakoff said, urging the board to consider options such as adjusting superintendent conference days or using approved remote instructional days to maintain compliance with the 180‑day requirement.
Musiakoff suggested a concrete change: move the second spring break from Monday, April 19–Friday, April 23 to Thursday, April 22–Thursday, April 29, which she said would require finding only one day elsewhere on the calendar to remain compliant with state instructional‑day requirements. She also emphasized the effect of misaligned calendars on families with children in multiple districts and staff who work across districts.
Board members acknowledged the concern. The board president said the calendar presented that night is an initial draft and that the district expects to align its final calendar with neighboring districts after further discussion. The superintendent said a final calendar is typically adopted at the second board meeting in January.
Next steps: the district will continue calendar discussions with neighboring districts and BOCES and bring a proposed calendar back for formal adoption in January. No vote on the calendar was taken at the Nov. 18 meeting.
