Option A was ultimately approved by the Board, and it had a plurality of support from the nearly 13,000 survey respondents. More than 80% of survey respondents ranked Option A as their preferred calendar choice.
Students will start on Aug. 24, 2026, and finish the year on June 17, 2027. Teachers will start on Aug. 17 and finish on June 21. Winter break begins Dec. 21, 2026, and ends Jan. 1, 2027. Spring break is scheduled for March 22 through 29, 2027, with an additional teacher workday on March 29.
Before the approval, Board Member Lisa Zargarpur of the Coles District said she wanted to see half days on the calendar to accommodate teacher work days — which elicited several claps and cheers.
There are currently no half days on the 2026-2027 calendar. Superintendent LaTanya McDade, Ed.D., clarified that adding half days was not part of the Calendar Committee’s purview, but required Board action.
“Well, for the future — because apparently the [ship] has sailed, I would like to add teacher half days to help alleviate workload because we know that that’s significant,” Zargarpur said. “We will consider that for next year, God willing. I want friends on that one.”
Woodbridge District’s Loree Williams highlighted that the Calendar Committee is composed of teachers, staff and other stakeholders, who can weigh in “at any point in time.”
“I would ask those of you in the audience who are cheering to share your voice before we get here next year,” Williams noted. “There’s multiple ways to share your voice. … You always have an option to reach out to us directly. There’s always a period of time in between an idea being introduced and an idea being voted on.”
Stephanie Soliven, Ed.D., the associate superintendent for Teaching and Learning, noted that the Calendar Committee began meeting over the summer.
Occoquan’s Richard Jessie said it’s not the Committee’s role to tell the Board what days should be half days. Potomac’s Justin Wilk acknowledged there was some confusion on the Committee’s role.
“Two years ago, I joined the Zoom calendar meeting and listened, and when people brought up the half days, it was immediately shut down. Killed every time,” Wilk said. “If that’s not the right venue, then we have to guide people to the right area and venue.”
Soliven further clarified that the Calendar Committee cannot shorten student instructional days, but can share their opinions on half days during meetings or feedback opportunities.
Wilk said he was voting against the calendar — as he did for the 2025-2026 school year.
“I would like to see a discussion about the early dismissals to give teachers opportunities to work on grades, maybe have parent meetings [and] conferences,” he said.
Jennifer Wall of the Gainesville District thanked the Calendar Committee and the survey respondents.
“There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to put together proposals for the Board to consider, and there were four good options,” Wall said.
She noted that there are a lot of rules guiding the calendar process.
“There are a lot of policies [and] regulations in Virginia code that put parameters on the calendar. … It does make for a very long calendar year,” Wall said. “… I know that is a point of disagreement in the community because some individuals would prefer a more condensed calendar, others would like us to start earlier, end earlier.”
Option A was approved in a 5-2 vote, with Zargarpur and Wilk opposing. Brentsville District’s Erica Tredinnick was not present at the vote.
