School Calendar Approved

The Churchill County School District Board of Trustees voted Tuesday night to adopt a two-year school calendar, approving Option B for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years, following community survey feedback and a staff vote on two proposed calendar options.

Under Option B, the district will continue its modified four-day schedule with a later August start for both the 2026–27 and 2027–28 school years. Students will attend full-length instructional days Monday through Thursday, with early release on Fridays. The first day of school for grades 1–12 will be Aug. 24, 2026, and Aug. 23, 2027, with Pre-K and kindergarten starting one week later each year. The school year will extend into early June, ending June 4, 2027, and June 2, 2028, allowing the district to observe Memorial Day while still meeting state instructional time requirements. District administrators noted Option B results in a slight reduction in total instructional minutes—about 105 to 115 minutes over the full school year—due to the inclusion of Memorial Day and one fewer “Blue Friday,” though overall daily schedules remain unchanged.

Superintendent Derild Parsons told trustees that the district’s calendar committee set survey criteria, distributed a community survey, and developed two similar calendar options that were later sent to staff for voting. Parsons said the two options differed by about a week in start and end dates and included only a minor change in total instructional time, which he characterized as “less than two hours” over the course of a full year.

Parsons recommended Option B, describing it as a “two-week later start” and saying the district should give the newer start date a chance to show results. He said the district moved to a later start only last year and typically needs “two to three years” to recognize benefits or pitfalls. Parsons also cited practical concerns with an earlier August start, including extreme heat and travel schedules for families still on summer vacation.

The superintendent noted he had included attendance data in the memo after community comments raised concerns about lower Friday attendance. Parsons said Fridays were lower, but “not significantly lower” than other days. He also said administrators would be asked to ensure Fridays are treated as full-value instructional days and not viewed as wasted time.

Parsons acknowledged that many survey comments again raised the idea of a four-day week, but said that option was not advanced for voting based on survey results indicating satisfaction with the current schedule. Moving to a true four-day work week, he said, would require either a longer school year or longer daily schedules to meet instructional minute requirements. Parsons said he is not a fan of extending school days, especially for older students with activities and busy family schedules and added that longer days could reduce flexibility and create tradeoffs for families.

Several trustees discussed how calendar decisions intersect with the structure of quarters, semesters, and major holidays.

Trustee comments included concerns about basing spring break placement on Easter. Trustee Julie Guerrero-Goetsch pointed to a survey question about spring break aligning with Easter and warned that Easter can shift by nearly a month depending on the year, making it difficult to reliably align with quarter-ending timelines. She argued calendar planning should prioritize quarter structure rather than chasing movable holidays.

Trustees also discussed concerns raised in feedback about semester finals occurring after winter break. Parsons said high school teachers can choose to give finals before the break if they want, but the district’s calendar must still meet state instructional-time requirements. He said the calendar approval process at the state level has become “very extensive,” with instructional minutes broken out and reviewed by semester and course.

In clarifying survey feedback themes, Parsons said a major request from respondents was clarity, consistency, and early communication, and he encouraged the board to be a year ahead in calendar development so families can plan further in advance. Parsons said approving a two-year calendar now, and then developing the following year’s calendar next year, would reduce annual uncertainty and help schools, especially the high school, build master schedules and enrollment timelines earlier.

Trustees also discussed how to interpret one summary statement included with the survey results: that the modified four-day model is viewed by some as temporary. Parsons said the comment reflected mixed community perspectives with some wanting a true four-day week for consistency, others simply wanting the district to commit to a predictable model. He described the current schedule as a compromise between four and five days and said it can be helpful in teacher recruitment because it offers “a different option.”

Not all trustees agreed. Trustee Joe McFadden said he could not continue supporting the current calendar, “especially in reading the results of the survey,” indicating dissatisfaction. Trustee Wendy Bullock said her preference would be a traditional five-day calendar but acknowledged half-day Fridays were still viewed by families as “wasted Fridays.” She said by going back to a five-day week, “we would be adding more to that,” and this B calendar is a great compromise.

A separate concern focused on the minor difference in instructional time between the options. Blakey said teachers she talked to had asked not to reduce class time and opposed Option B because it shaved off a small amount of time compared to Option A. Parsons clarified the reduction was tied to how Fridays fall around Memorial Day and amounts to less than two hours across the entire school year, which another trustee described as “less than a minute a day.”

After discussion, the board voted to adopt Option B, with trustees Joe McFadden and Celstia Blakey opposed.