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Portland Public Schools committee reviews 2026–27 draft calendar; waiver and teacher start dates in focus
Summary
At a Feb. 9 Portland Public Schools policy committee meeting, staff presented a draft 2026–27 academic calendar that preserves Yom Kippur and Eid, builds in three snow days with remote learning afterward, and may require a state waiver because calendars are seven days out of alignment with partner districts. The board asked staff to seek further input from unions and partner districts before finalizing.
Dr. Sarah Warren, chief of strategy and operations for Portland Public Schools, presented the policy committee with a draft 2026–27 academic calendar on Feb. 9 and outlined the legal, contractual and operational factors that shape the schedule.
Warren told the committee the district must meet state requirements that currently total 175 instructional days and 180 days overall. "The current requirement ... is 175 instructional days and 180 days total," she said, and added the district must consider both the teacher contract and EdTech agreements when assigning work and professional-development days.
The draft retains two religious holidays added in the prior cycle — Yom Kippur and Eid — and includes three traditional snow days. "We have three traditional snow days, and then after that, we move to remote learning days," Warren said, adding that the district has already used its three snow days this year and that remote learning is "not what is best for our students," particularly those historically marginalized.
A major operational constraint is alignment with career and technical education (CTE) partner districts that attend the district's Paths program. Warren said state guidance aims for no more than five dissimilar days among districts serving the same CTE hub; the current draft shows seven dissimilar days (down from 10 earlier), which would require the district to submit a waiver to the state if the discrepancy remains. "We received one [waiver] for this year," she said, and staff expect to submit another if they cannot reduce differences.
Committee members focused discussion on three choices staff asked the board to weigh: the teacher start date (Aug. 24 or Aug. 25), whether to make Friday, Sept. 4 a student day or an off day before Labor Day, and how to align EdTech work days with teacher days. Warren said she removed explicit EdTech labeling from the public draft pending further bargaining discussions: "For the time being right now, I have removed any reference to ed techs in the draft calendar. It just references teachers." She recommended additional engagement with union representatives and the district's CTE partners before returning a final draft to the board.
Board members asked procedural and impact questions. Vice Chair Mickey Bondo asked why the district needs to request waivers; Warren explained that the waiver requires a justification showing why districts could not align to five or fewer dissimilar days and that the state reviews and either approves or pushes back on requests. Dr. Opperman cautioned about reducing student instructional time if the committee trades student days for holidays or staff days.
Warren also described other timing choices in the draft: students are proposed to start Aug. 31 (pre-K and kindergarten staggered in August), a districtwide professional-development day is set for March 19 to align with some Paths partners, and the district is exploring a two-year calendar process to give families and staff greater advance notice. She noted Juneteenth (observed on June 19) will be recognized on the Friday the district observes when the holiday falls on a weekend this year (June 18).
The committee did not take formal action to adopt the calendar. Warren said staff will continue bargaining and outreach, and will prepare next steps, including a potential waiver submission to the state if alignment cannot be improved. The meeting adjourned at 6:53 p.m.
