Calendar committee presents two options; board will send both to staff for a vote
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Summary
The Davie County calendar committee presented two proposed 2026–27 calendars, discussed the potential impact of Senate Bill 754 and the trade-offs between instructional hours and an earlier graduation; the board agreed to send the two options to staff for a vote and will act on the winner in January.
The Davie County school calendar committee presented two contrasting calendar options for 2026–27 and recommended that the board send both options to district staff for a binding vote before the board finalizes the calendar in January.
Why this matters: the calendar affects start dates, exam timing, graduation scheduling and how much cushion the district has for inclement-weather adjustments. The committee examined the draft aligned with proposed Senate Bill 754 (the so-called "Burger Bill"), which would allow earlier starts, but ultimately removed that early-start approach after the group concluded it produced unacceptable trade-offs for students and alignment with local community college semesters.
Calendar options described:
- Option 1: A Wednesday start on Aug. 26 under the current bookends, maintaining 180 student days with balanced semesters (90/90), 14 teacher workdays and several early-release days; the projected last student day was June 10 with a projected June 12 graduation. That option provides a larger cushion for instructional hours (Haines cited a minimum of 1,051 instructional hours at Central Davie under this calendar).
- Option 2: A Monday start aligned with current law's earliest permitted start; it reduces student days to 177 and instructional hours to a cited minimum of 1,040 hours, giving the district only about a 15-hour cushion for weather-related losses. Option 2 includes more teacher workdays and would move the projected last student day to June 3 with a tentative June 5 graduation, a change some parents and seniors prefer for earlier graduations.
The calendar committee surveyed its 34 members; 26 completed the final survey. Haines reported that 18 respondents (69%) recommended Option 2, 7 respondents (27%) recommended Option 1 and 1 respondent (4%) supported an early calendar tied to SB 754 if penalties were addressed.
Board direction: several board members asked clarifying questions about instructional hours and the risk of state-imposed penalties. The board agreed to follow the committee’s usual process: send both options to staff for a vote between now and the holiday break, then bring the winning option back for final approval at the January board meeting.
What’s next: the staff vote results will be reported to the board in January for final action.