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Mt Vernon staff present four draft 2027–28 calendar options to restore three student days
Summary
District staff presented four calendar drafts that would recapture three student days (to reach the state 180‑day expectation) by using asynchronous e‑learning days, shifting teacher workdays, or designating Presidents' Day as a snow‑makeup day; no decision was made at the work session.
Unidentified Speaker 1 opened a Mt Vernon Community School Corp work session and introduced Speaker 2 (calendar presenter), who reviewed four draft 2027–28 school calendars designed to recapture three student days the district currently schedules as performance‑qualified release time.
Speaker 2 said the district currently schedules 177 student in‑session days; three of the state’s usual 180 days have been waived through previously earned performance‑qualifying days. He said drafts aim to restore those three days while preserving 184 on‑site teacher days and minimizing disruption to families and staff.
Draft 1 (the “as‑is” option) preserves existing long breaks and converts the two parent‑teacher/PD days in September and February to asynchronous e‑learning student days, while reducing lead‑in teacher workdays from three to two. According to Speaker 2, that approach returns students toward the 180‑day target and keeps teachers’ on‑site totals intact.
Draft 2a keeps three teacher workdays at the start of the year (Monday–Wednesday) with students beginning Thursday and converts Presidents' Day into a combined staff PD/asynchronous student day. Draft 2b is similar but shifts an initial teacher workday to Friday, July 30, so Presidents’ Day remains a student holiday and the student start remains in early August; Speaker 2 and others cautioned that beginning teacher work in late July may be unpopular.
Draft 3 reserves Presidents' Day as a scheduled snow‑makeup day, which would prioritize in‑person classroom days and avoid some synchronous or asynchronous weather days. Speaker 2 noted that using scheduled makeup days could require moving graduation later in the year if multiple makeup days were needed.
Board participants (identified in the transcript as Speakers 3–6) asked about tradeoffs, community reaction and how to gather teacher input. Speaker 2 said cabinet, principals and CTA leadership had reviewed the four options and had not expressed major concerns; he recommended surveying teachers or paring down options before wider outreach.
No formal motion or vote occurred. Speaker 2 said he would bring the 2027–28 calendar back to a regular board meeting for approval and proposed an amendment to the already‑planned 2026–27 calendar to remove a two‑hour April early release.
The work session closed with staff agreeing to circulate minutes and to continue collecting feedback from teachers and principals before returning to the board with a recommendation.
