What you need to know
PISD’s board of trustees received a presentation on an early draft of the 2026-27 academic calendar during its Nov. 6 meeting.
The board adopted academic calendars for both 2024-25 and 2025-26 last school year, and are looking at the 2026-27 school year to continue to “stay a couple years ahead,” PISD Chief Communications Officer Lesley Range-Stanton said.
Range-Stanton said that district staff “pretty much picked up” the 2025-26 calendar and placed it into 2026-27 before beginning the vetting and feedback process, which is still ongoing.
The specifics
The initial draft sets the first day of school for Aug. 11, 2026, and the last day of school for May 21, 2027. The draft calendar includes an 82 day first semester and an 89 day second semester.
Under the current plan, students would have a full week off for fall break from Oct. 12-16, 2026, and Thanksgiving break from Nov. 23-27, 2026. Winter break would be set for Dec. 21, 2026-Jan. 1, 2027, while spring break would take place from March 15-19, 2027.
What they’re saying
Range-Stanton said that staff has already received feedback on the lack of days off between March 29, 2027 and the last day of school. She added that while the current draft sets a Tuesday as the first day of school, teachers have expressed that they would prefer a Wednesday start to the school year.
Range-Stanton added that the district intends to keep a full week of fall break in October, which it first implemented for the 2023-24 school year.
What’s next
The final draft of the 2026-27 PISD academic calendar will be presented for board approval on Dec. 10.
