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Superintendent warns school calendar may need change if district must host May elections

Dover Area School District Board of Directors · January 13, 2026

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Summary

Superintendent flagged a possible conflict between the state Keystone testing window and a county board of elections request to use middle and high schools as polling sites in May; he warned using the high school could require significant calendar adjustments, including extending the school year into June.

District administrators told the board the proposed 2026–27 calendar mirrors recent years but that a county board of elections letter requesting the high school and middle school as polling locations could conflict with state testing and finals.

Dr. Hauck explained the calendar options (year‑at‑a‑glance and month‑by‑month formats) and said early‑dismissal days are scheduled for finals and for teacher collaboration/data analysis. He reported receiving a letter from the county board of elections asking to use the middle and high schools as polling locations and said he forwarded the letter to the district solicitor to confirm legal obligations. "If that is the case, the elections for the 2026‑27 school year, the November date will not be a problem. The May date will be May 18 ... and if we discover that we will be forced to use the high school as a polling location, I will likely have to adjust this calendar, rather significantly," he said.

Board members raised concerns about Keystone exam windows (state‑set testing dates that span multiple days per subject), finals scheduling and the impact of extending the school year into June on families and vacation plans. Administrators said testing windows and CTE hour requirements limit options for consolidating early‑dismissal days, and that makeups and scheduling constraints reduce flexibility.

What’s next: administration will consult the solicitor on the elections letter and consider calendar revisions if necessary; no formal calendar change was approved at the planning meeting.