Board adopts 2026–27 calendar with added student virtual day after public comment

The Natchitoches Parish School Board voted Feb. 10 to adopt the 2026–27 academic calendar with a substitute amendment adding a student virtual day on Monday, Jan. 4, the Monday after Christmas break.

The substitute motion was offered and seconded during discussion of Item 3a. Several board members supported the amendment as a practical adjustment; one member said teachers and staff had requested the change because the day after the holiday break is their most difficult working day. The motion carried on a roll call with recorded yes votes from Mister Danzi, Mister Harris, Miss Palmer, Miss Phelps, Miss Harvey, Mister Fradu, Mister Nicholson and Miss Page; Mister McGuire, Mister Benefield and Missus Megaski voted no.

During public comment, Paula Callender introduced herself and asked the board to preserve professional development (PD) days that support student learning. "Those professional development days are not spent in our classrooms. They are spent strategically looking at student one by one to make sure that they're meeting their growth targets," Callender said, urging the board to "listen to the voice of teachers." Her remarks framed part of the board's deliberations on the timing of PD days and virtual instruction.

The superintendent earlier described a separate request from NACA Central for a virtual day tied to ACT testing on March 24 so that 10th‑ and 11th‑grade testing could be conducted securely; he said staff planned to inform parents and work out logistics if the board approves that measure. At the Feb. 10 meeting the formal calendar change adopted by the board was the Jan. 4 virtual day.

District staff said they will notify families and publish details for the added virtual day and continue conversations with principals and teachers about the PD schedule for the coming year.