The Board approved Option A, which has students starting school on Aug. 19 and finishing on June 12. Teacher workdays in this option begin on Aug. 11 and all major holidays — including Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Presidents Day and Memorial Day, to name a few — will be observed.
According to a PWCS news release on Nov. 20, the first day of school may be moved to Aug. 18 depending on the Board’s decision in January to revise its own policy to observe Eid al-Adha — one of the major holidays in Islam — which falls on May 26 and May 27 in 2026. PWCS already observes Eid al-Fitr, the other official Islamic holiday.
PWCS also released a survey on these calendar options from Oct. 7 to Oct. 15 and more than 14,000 community members shared their thoughts on the available options. Survey respondents were asked to rank the three options — A, B or C. Option B received the most votes, followed by Option A then Option C. But, Option A received the most number of rankings.
Justin Wilk, the Board member representing the Potomac District, was the only dissenting member in the vote. During the meeting, Wilk said he was voting in protest of the available options.
“My vote tonight will be a protest vote. … My vote no is hoping that if enough vote no, it will go back to the drawing board,” he said.
Jennifer Wall, the Board member for the Gainesville District, said she had issues with the options too.
“My personal dislike is when the school year extends into the second week of June. I have witnessed that maintaining student focus once you get past Memorial Day, it gets really difficult; however, I do recognize that in our very pluralistic society, culture and communities, there are many individuals that really appreciate those additional holidays,” Wall said. “There are just things I don’t like about the calendar, about any of the options. It was very tempting to protest vote, however, I do see the reason why we are where we are.”
Loree Williams of the Woodbridge District also chimed in, saying she understood where Wilk was coming from.
“I’m going to be voting for this … we are the 10th most diverse county in the nation. Just about everyone has something to celebrate,” Williams said.
The calendar option passed 7-1. Important things to note about the 2025-26 school year calendar include:
- No school for Labor Day (Aug. 29 and Sept. 1);
- No school for Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 23);
- No school for Yom Kippur (Oct. 2);
- Professional development days (Oct. 13, Nov. 3 and 4, Jan. 23 and 26, April 6 and June 15);
- No school for Diwali (Oct. 21);
- No School for Veterans Day (Nov. 11);
- Thanksgiving (Nov. 26, 27 and 28);
- Two weeks off for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Day (Dec. 22 through Jan. 2)
- No school for Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 19)
- No school for Presidents Day (Feb. 16)
- No School for Eid al-Fitr (March 20)
- Spring break (March 30 through April 3)
- No school for Memorial Day (May 25)
