The Wellsville-Middletown R-I School Board approved the calendar for the next school year during a meeting on Feb. 12.

The first day of the 2026-2027 school year will be Tuesday, Aug. 25, which is later than in past years. The district began the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 19. There will be 74 days of school in each semester.

“The 26-27 calendar issued its own set of challenges because the legislation says school can’t start more than 14 days before Labor Day, so the earliest start date is Aug. 25, which is later than what we’re used to, but it makes for a short, short semester,” R-I Superintendent Tiffany Gosseen said.

Gosseen said while she was at a recent state board meeting, waivers for the start date requirement were submitted by 108 school districts, but all of them were rejected

“They didn’t read through them, basically saying they would not entertain a waiver for anything about an extenuating calendar circumstance,” she said.

Thanksgiving break is scheduled for Nov. 25-27. A two-week winter break starts on Dec. 22. Spring break will run on March 25-26.

High school graduation will be on May 14. The last day of school will be on May 20. The professional development/work days are Aug. 18-21, Sept. 14, Jan. 11, Feb. 8, March 8, April 12 and May 21.

School will be in session on Mondays six times during the school year. The dates are Sept. 28, Oct. 26, Nov. 23, Feb. 22, March 22 and May 17.

“We go on various Mondays,” Gosseen said. “We go on Monday before Thanksgiving so we can have the extra day off. We go on the Monday of parent-teacher conferences. The teachers are here until 8 o’clock on Thursday night so they can be home on Fridays. It’s going to be a matter of communicating it with our parents. When we are in school on Monday, our attendance is the same.”

Gosseen said she presented two drafts of the calendar to the district leadership team and issued copies to staff members for feedback. The responses were mixed.

“The comments against the calendar I’m presenting had things like, ‘I hate Mondays.’ The positive ones included they’ll get a longer Christmas break. The kids and staff will come back refreshed and more energized,” Gosseen said.

The board also approved the addition of summer school dates of June 2-26 to the 2025-26 school calendar.

The last day of school for this year is May 20, which is on a Wednesday. The high school graduation is scheduled for May 15.