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Urbana board reviews 2025–26 calendar survey; committee recommends keeping current draft, public feedback invited
Summary
Board members reviewed a staff survey of 455 employees on calendar options (246 favored considering one religious holiday); the calendar committee voted 11 of 21 (52%) to keep the current draft. The board will accept public feedback before a Feb. 18 vote.
The Urbana School Board spent a substantial portion of its Jan. 16 study session discussing a draft 2025–26 school calendar and the results of a staff survey used to evaluate options including adding one religious holiday (Yom Kippur was discussed as an example).
District staff reported 455 staff responses to the survey: 329 licensed/teacher staff, 92 support staff and 28 administrators. On the specific question about adding one religious holiday to the 2025–26 calendar, 246 of 455 respondents (about 54%) indicated they would like the district to consider doing so; 209 respondents (≈46%) were opposed or not in favor. Staff and committee discussion focused on the necessary tradeoffs (the district must maintain 176 student attendance days), such as starting the school year earlier, trading the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, or moving the last student day.
The calendar committee (24 members, 21 voting) recommended keeping the draft calendar as presented (11 of 21 votes, 52%). The committee also considered other options — moving Good Friday to a student attendance day and trading for another holiday, starting school one day earlier, or having teachers work virtually in December — but the majority recommendation was to retain the current draft.
Board member Sherry highlighted the equity and religious‑accommodation concerns raised in committee comments, saying the issue "was highlighted this year" after an event overlapped a Jewish holy day and emphasizing that staff and students should be able to observe religious holidays without penalty. The superintendent said the district will post a cultural calendar and the draft calendar and survey results on the district website and encouraged parents and community members to send comments before the Feb. 18 vote.
Board members requested that the district publish full survey questions (no ellipses) so readers can judge how wording might have affected responses. Several members emphasized the operational impacts of aligning or not aligning with neighboring Unit 4, Parkland College and the University of Illinois calendars — including substitute teacher availability, dual‑credit students and family logistics.
Next steps: the board invited public feedback over the next two weeks and scheduled a vote on the calendar at the Feb. 18 meeting. Members asked staff to make the draft calendar and the full survey questions available to the public online and encouraged principals to share the draft with families.
