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Brevard school board reviews three 2027–28 calendar options, asks staff to explore adding instructional minutes
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Summary
District staff presented three draft 2027–28 calendars — weekly early releases, monthly early releases and no early releases — and the board directed staff to explore eliminating some or all early‑release Fridays or slightly lengthening school days to increase instructional minutes and reduce hurricane make‑up days.
District staff presented three draft calendars for the 2027–28 school year and asked the school board for feedback on trade‑offs between early‑release Fridays and instructional minutes. The presenter said the district must meet state requirements (720 instructional hours for grades K–3 and 900 hours for grades 4–12) and the 180‑day (or equivalent minutes) rule, and that any change to Friday early release would require negotiations with the teachers’ union.
The presenter outlined three options: the current model with weekly early release, a monthly early‑release model (last Friday of each month) and a calendar with no early releases. The monthly or no‑early‑release options would add instructional minutes equivalent to roughly five to seven days across the year, providing flexibility to end the first semester before winter break or designate an election day as a non‑school day in some years.
Board members asked about typical hurricane‑related lost days and whether longer school days improve achievement. One board member asked, “When we on the years we have a hurricane, do we have an average of how many days we normally lose?” District staff said the average is roughly one to three days, and that while some neighboring districts have longer days, there is no clear statistical link between minute counts and academic performance in isolation.
Superintendent Doctor Rendell summarized board direction: staff should explore increasing available minutes either by eliminating some or all early‑release days or by modestly increasing the school day, understanding that such changes will require negotiation with the union and careful planning for hurricane make‑up, transportation and food‑service impacts. Staff said they would return with revised calendar options and any needed negotiated changes for board consideration.
Next steps: staff will model minute increases and proposed calendars, consult with unions and affected departments (transportation, food service, before/after care) and bring modified calendars or a recommended option to a future business meeting for formal approval.
