Kingman Unified board delays new three-year calendar, votes 3-2 to keep current 2026–27 schedule

The Kingman Unified School District governing board voted 3-2 on March 10 to keep the district's current calendar for the 2026–27 school year and to restart the three-year calendar cycle after one year, following several hours of public comment and an extended board discussion.

A Servet Elementary School principal who spoke during public comment urged the board to reverse its earlier dismissal of a calendar developed by a 30-person committee. "The dismissal of all that work was more than disrespectful," the principal said, noting the committee's months of meetings and the staff and community input it had gathered.

The vote capped a sustained exchange over how the district sought and counted community input and whether funding changes drove earlier scheduling decisions. District staff said they sent approximately 6,685 emails with a survey link and reported 415 parent responses to that outreach; staff also reported that roughly 58% of employees responded to the staff survey and that 72% of those respondents favored the committee's proposed calendar. Board members disagreed about how to weight those figures and whether the surveys sufficiently represented families across the district.

Supporters of the committee's plan argued the three-year calendar would align training and start dates in ways that benefit staff and new hires and allow participation in July professional development. "When we had ESSER funds we were able to offer intersession at every school," a district official said, explaining why the earlier two-week intersession was added in the past and why funding cuts later made it unsustainable.

Opponents raised practical concerns about childcare, local program scheduling and the survey methods used. "If you go to a vote, then it comes down to social media and a storm," one board member said, arguing that soliciting community input is different from treating a districtwide survey as a binding vote.

After debate, the board adopted a motion to keep the existing calendar for one year and to ask the calendar committee to resume work for the 2027–28 cycle. The board also requested clearer, aggregated survey reporting in future calendar discussions so members can see response counts and breakdowns when they vote.

The board's action means the calendar committee's three-year recommendation will not take effect in 2026–27 but will be reconsidered for the 2027–28 cycle. Board members said the district will continue to provide opportunities for input during the coming year.

The meeting also included other business (insurance rates, staff raises, and personnel items); those actions were taken in separate votes later in the session.