At the USD 379 School Board meeting on January 13th, a calendar was voted on 4-3 for the 2025-2026 school year.
Board members were presented with three options, highlights from each calendar, as well as USD 379 preferences. A total of 120 responses came in from staff members, including classified and certified staff and site council members.
Calendar A includes 170 student days and 184 teacher days and parent-teacher conferences on October 22 and 23. It also includes three days off for Thanksgiving break. The first day of school would be August 19th, the day after KSHSAA practices start, and the last day of May 21.
Calendar B includes a start date of August 13th and an end date of May 15. It also holds 170 student days and 184 teacher days. Parent-teacher conferences would be September 17-18 and coming back to the second semester with a half PLC workday.
Calendar C has a start date of August 14th and an end date of May 20th. It includes a week-long Thanksgiving break for a total of 171 student days and 184 teacher days.
Calendars B and C host an in-service on Halloween. Calendars A and B do not have school on Veteran’s Day (a Tuesday) and three days off of school the week of Thanksgiving. And Calendars B and C start school before KSHSAA practices.
Calendar drafts were built from the USD 379 negotiated agreement, KSDE policy/guidelines, and the Board of Education policy.
Of the 120 staff members who completed the survey, 91 were certified staff. Their votes were 18% for Calendar A, 8% for Calendar B, and 74% for Calendar C. In addition, 26% voted for Calendar A or B.
The school board voted to pass Calendar A, 4-3. A motion to pass was made by board member, David Jermark. It was seconded and voted on by members Tracy Claeys, Shanna Sterling, Jason Bergsten, and Jermark. Opposed votes came from Andy Auld, Jeff Cannizzo, and Linda Sleichter.
President Claeys said he voted that calendar due to public feedback, citing work schedules and parents who work on hourly wages.
“At this point, I think Calendar A is best for the community,” he said.
However, Sleichter said they should have listened to teacher votes.
“if we’re not going to take the input that’s provided by the[vote, we shouldn’t ask our employees for a vote,” she said. “I think that’s a pretty big slap in the face.”
More information on the calendars can be found on the school website, including a breakdown of each schedule. https://go.boarddocs.com/ks/usd379/Board.nsf/Public
