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Board reviews proposed 2026–27 academic calendar; pre-K start moves to Sept. 8
Summary
Calendar committee presented a draft 2026–27 calendar: general student start Aug. 24, pre-K moved to Sept. 8 to allow home visits, 178 student days and 1,114.706 total hours districtwide (above state minimum); board discussed snow-day policy and next step of a public hearing before final approval.
A calendar committee presenter summarized the proposed 2026–27 Southeast Polk academic calendar and answered trustees’ questions about timing, snow days and next steps. The proposal sets the first day of school for most students on Monday, Aug. 24, and moves pre-kindergarten start to Tuesday, Sept. 8, to ensure adequate time for pre-K home visits and preparation.
The presenter said the draft calendar yields 178 student days and about 1,114.706 total instructional hours districtwide, putting the district roughly 30–35 hours above the state’s minimum requirement. The draft also proposes a split semester (89 days each) intended to help secondary course planning and AP preparation, and identifies tentative senior commencement on May 16; seniors would have approximately 1,065 instructional hours under the proposal.
Trustees pressed on whether the draft contains built-in snow days; the presenter said there are not technically built-in snow days in the current draft but that the calendar is well above the minimum state hours and that the board had previously discussed that as a potential item for future calendar planning. The presenter confirmed one edit since the packet: pre-K start was moved from Aug. 31 to Sept. 8.
The presenter said the next step in the process would be to present the draft publicly and hold a hearing (historically on the eleventh meeting) before returning to the board for final approval. No formal calendar vote was recorded in the transcript excerpt.
