2026-2028 Calendar Development Guidance Document

Calendar Commi ee’s Scope of Work
Development of 2026-2028 School Calendars


Senior Staff Advisors: Ms. Stacy E. Stepney and Ms. Jennifer Caracciolo

Committee Members: The 2026-2028 Calendar Committee is comprised of parents, students, school-level
staff, administrators, district-level staff, and community/business partners. Committee members will be
randomly selected.

Board Policy: AEA-School Calendar


Timeline: Dates are subject to change if the Calendar Committee needs additional time to prepare the 2026-
2028 school calendars.

 Date                                 Action
 September 15-24, 2025                Survey #1
 September 17, 2025                   Notify randomly selected stakeholders to serve as members of the
                                      2026-2028 Calendar Committee
 September 19, 2025                   Send pertinent work session documents to 2026-2028 Calendar
                                      Committee
 September 22, 2025                   5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (Virtual Work Session - Optional)
 September 25, 2025                   Meeting 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. (AIC)
 October 20 – October 29, 2025        Target window to distribute stakeholder survey #2 and encourage
                                      participation through social media; give 7-10 days for stakeholders to
                                      respond
 September 29 – October 3, 2025       Meeting 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. (Virtual or AIC) – Committee will select
                                      the two days during this week.
 October 7, 2025                      Meeting from 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. (Virtual or AIC)
 October 8, 2025                      Submit Board Agenda Item (Draft) for November 10th meeting
 October 30, 2025                     Data analysis
 October 31, 2025                     Submit Board Agenda Item for November 10th meeting
Note: Meeting dates and times are subject to change based on availability of committee members.
Stakeholder Engagement: The Calendar Committee is charged with presenting calendar options to the
DeKalb County School District’s community of stakeholders. Stakeholders will provide feedback by taking a
survey/questionnaire that will be posted on the webpage and pushed out via DeKalb’s app, social media, email
networks, local school websites, and other organized communication efforts.
Presentation to the Board of Education:
Per Board Policy AEA-School Calendar, a group of stakeholders will convene to explore school calendar
options for the 2026-2028 school years. The Calendar Committee will make recommendations to Acting
Superintendent Dr. Norman C. Sauce III. The proposed calendars will be presented to the Board of Education
for approval at the Board meeting on November 10 or December 8.
After the Board of Education approves the budget each year, the Calendar Committee may reconvene to
revise the 2026-2027 calendar and/or 2027-2028 calendar if necessary. The final calendars will be submitted
to the Georgia Department of Education each school year by June 1st.
                                        CALENDAR CONSIDERATIONS
Calendar Attributes:
          The calendar contains 180 student-contact days.
          The calendar contains a maximum of 190 teacher days.
          The calendar includes one evening workday comprised of parent-teacher conferences (2 per
           semester). Conference schedules are determined by individual schools.
          The calendar contains nine teacher workdays.
          The state designated testing windows and dates are considered during the development of the
           calendars.
          In recent years, the school district considered half (½) days or early release days.
          In the 2022-2023 school year, metro area districts began incorporating digital learning days,
           independent learner days, or late start days for professional learning and/or teacher workdays.

Spring Holidays:
        Typically, spring break coordinates with surrounding school districts. The first full week in April is
         usually designated as spring break.

Semesters:
        Consider the number of days in each semester.
        In recent years, the last day of school for students occurred prior to Memorial Day except for the
         2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school calendars due to weeklong breaks in October and February.

Inclement Weather/Emergency Days:
         Virtual learning days provide the opportunity to make-up instructional days lost due to inclement
          weather or other identified interruptions.
         Prior to the pandemic, inclement weather make up days were designated each semester.


O.C.G.A. § 20–2–168
§ 20–2–168. Distribution of federal funds; combined purchase of supplies and equipment; minimum
school year; summer school programs; year–round operation
(3) A local board of education may, without the necessity of authorization from the state board, elect not to
complete, as make–up days, up to four additional days otherwise needed which are the result of days when
school was closed due to emergency, disaster, act of God, civil disturbance, or shortage of vital or critical
material, supplies, or fuel. In any such case, the school year applicable to that local board of education may
terminate, in the discretion of the local board, at the end of the last school day originally designated by the local
board as the end of the school year, regardless of the day of the week on which the school calendar was
scheduled to end. The provisions of this paragraph shall not limit the authority of the state board under
paragraph (2) of this subsection.
     (4) Each fiscal year shall begin on July 1 and end on June 30 of the following year.
     (5) For purposes of this subsection, the term:
        (A) "Disaster" means any happening that causes great harm or damage.
        (B) "Emergency" means a sudden generally unexpected occurrence or set of
             circumstances demanding immediate action.”

SBOE Rule (160-5-1-.02)

Number of Instructional Minutes and Hours Per Year Based on 180 Instructional Days
(a) Kindergarten shall be scheduled for not less than 4 1/2 hours or 270 minutes of daily instruction.
(b) Any grade 1-3 shall have not less than a daily average of 4 1/2 hours or 270 minutes of instructional time
(c) Any grade 4-5 shall have not less than a daily average of 5 hours or 300 minutes of instructional time
(d) Any grade 6-12 shall have not less than a daily average of 5 1/2 hours or 330 minutes of instructional time