Washington Township board adopts 2026–27 calendar with two built-in snow days

The Washington Township Board of Education voted to approve the district's 2026'27 calendar that includes two built-in inclement-weather days, a measure the superintendent said will prevent the school year from stretching into late June.

Superintendent Eric Hibbs recommended the "build in 2" option, saying it "has this hard stop on Thursday the seventeenth," which, he noted, would leave Friday as Juneteenth and reduce the likelihood the district would tack extra days onto the end of the year. The board discussed how makeup days would be pulled (Presidents' Day first, then backing into spring-break days) and how the options differ if storms occur before or after certain calendar cutoffs.

The vote to adopt the calendar passed on a roll call, 6'2, with the chair announcing that the motion carried. Board members said they supported the two-day built-in model to give students and staff a firmer end date; several members also said they were open to continuing a separate discussion about the length and timing of spring break.

Board members and staff clarified how the two-day plan would be applied: if no built-in days are used, the last day would remain June 17 under the adopted plan; if storms occur before Presidents' Day, the district would pull earlier dates and only begin eroding spring break once the built-in and Presidents' Day protections were exhausted.

Some trustees asked for more community input before making long-term changes to spring break. Superintendent Hibbs and other board members suggested a staff and parent survey to gather broader feedback before changing the traditional spring-break window for future school years.

The board's approval takes effect for the school year starting in September 2026; the board directed staff to continue discussions about spring break timing and, if needed, to present survey results and implementation details at a future meeting.