Bear Facts - How is the district’s academic calendar created?

Written By Nidhi Satiani

TL; DR: Creating the district’s school calendar is a process that has many considerations that have to balance: community feedback, board policy, the district’s contract with the teacher’s union, and state law.

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A draft of the 2027-28 through 2029-30 calendars will be shared with the board at our Tuesday meeting. Each year, the school calendar shapes far more than start and end dates. It affects family routines, childcare arrangements, student learning, staff working conditions, religious observance, and access to opportunities both inside and outside the district. Because of this, calendar decisions are not simply logistical; they are value-laden, and they reflect whose needs are seen, prioritized, and balanced.

I’ve heard from many community members who want to better understand how the calendar is created, who is involved, and what constraints and choices shape the final outcome. This post is intended to make that process more transparent. It outlines the roles of the calendar committee, the community, the board, the district, and state law. It also explains the considerations I have asked to be part of calendar deliberations.

My goal is not to argue for a single “right” calendar. That doesn’t exist. Rather, it is to clarify the process so you can engage meaningfully, and so we can hold ourselves accountable to making decisions that are informed, intentional, and aligned with our shared values.

Key Activities/Dates

  • Calendar Committee is Convened (Fall 2025)

  • Survey is Open for Feedback (December 1 - December 9, 2025)

  • Draft is Shared with Superintendent (Required by January 31, 2026)

  • Board Holds Public Hearing for Feedback on Draft (February 11, 2026)

  • Public Comment Period (Feb 11 - April 14, 2026*)

  • Board Votes to Finalize Calendar (Anticipated date: April 14, 2026*)

* In 2023, we had two months between the hearing and the vote. So ,the April 14 date is when I anticipate this will occur. However, the agenda for the March and April meetings has not been finalized as of February 6, 2026.

The Role of the Community

  • Complete the survey.

  • Provide feedback during the public hearing or public comment period.

The Role of the Board

Details: https://go.boarddocs.com/oh/upar/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=CXTTDD76C9B7

  • The school board is ultimately responsible for approving a calendar each year.**

  • Before the board approves the calendar, there has to be a public hearing.(this is what the February meeting was. But, it is not too late. The Board will not vote to approve until our April meeting.)

  • The calendar must include an observance for Veterans Day.

** When the school board is responsible for approving something, it is our responsibility to agree on and clearly articulate the criteria we use to determine that approval. Notably, this is not a conversation that has been placed on any agenda during my tenure. 

As such, I have provided my thoughts to the superintendent and was told it would be incorporated into the calendar committee’s process. I asked the committee to transparently share what factors were considered and how tradeoffs were made in their deliberations, specifically:

  • The role of childcare feasibility for working parents - do we know if parents prefer Mon/Fri to be off vs Tues-Thurs? Do we know if parents prefer early release over late start? 

    • I was grateful to see this incorporated into our 2022 community survey. 

    • While it was not included in the 2025 survey, many parents did include this in their feedback.

  • The role of other calendars that impact our students' courses (OSU, Columbus State, Columbus City Schools). We have students who take courses outside of UA. How is that part of our process?

    • I was disappointed this was not included in our surveys. But, I was reassured it was a consideration.

  • The role of religion. How are the student needs based on non-Christian holidays considered? How can we equitably honor all families?

    • This resulted in significant conversation – see below.

The role of religion

I was told the committee reviews compiled data on the number of students and holidays that are currently being recorded as absent for religious purposes. I challenged us to consider broader evidence as community members tell me that they choose to stay in school despite religious observance. Since class continues in a student’s absence, students are often weary to miss class because of the make-up work they have to do. This means that even if they choose to stay home, they are often not fully present because of this concern. So, absence data may dramatically understate impact. Therefore, using only absence data would produce false conclusions about which holidays matter. 

Basically, I was asking the committee not to confuse invisibility with irrelevance.

We must acknowledge our reality if we want to see how it can unintentionally exclude people. And, the calendars encode religious assumptions, even when they are presented as neutral. Notably, our calendar committee currently has Christian considerations codified into their process. They are required to have winter break align with Christmas and include at least one weekday prior to Christmas within winter break. Until 2018, they were required to schedule no school on Good Friday. And, while that was changed to a “Spring” day off, that day has still been scheduled on Good Friday each year. 

It is important to share that my request was not to ignore the holidays a majority of our students celebrate. It was to be cognizant of how our existing practice may place different religions within a hierarchy. It is not about special treatment, it is about transparency, fairness, and high quality data.

We must remember: it is not possible to make the perfect calendar. AND, we can ensure that our process reflects the values of our community and that our decisions are informed, intentional, and transparent. 

The Role of the District and Teachers

https://serb.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/serb/documents-and-decisions/collective-bargaining-agreements/collective-bargaining-agreements (Section 12.1 SCHOOL CALENDAR)

  • The calendar committee is no more than six people: three appointed by Dr. Hunt, three appointed by UAEA leadership.

  • The preparation process must include an opportunity for classified staff, parents, and students to provide feedback. This is typically done via a survey.

  • The school calendar will be no more than 186 days. The committee will identify potential make-up dates that may be needed for weather, calamity, energy conservation, or for other reasons in keeping with any applicable law.

  • The following will be non-school days for students and staff:

    • Labor Day

    • Central OEA/NEA Day (except the calendar committee has discretion to recommend that this day be an instructional day in a particular school year)

    • Thanksgiving Day

    • The Friday after Thanksgiving

    • At least the last weekday* preceding Christmas Day

    • Christmas Day

    • New Year's Day

    • January 2, unless New Year's Day falls on a Friday or Saturday

    • Martin Luther King Day

    • The Friday before President's Day (except the calendar committee has discretion to recommend that this day be an instructional day in a particular school year)

    • President's Day

    • Spring No Student/No Staff Day (*note, until 2018, this was specified as Good Friday)

    • Memorial Day

  • The committee’s recommendations must be shared with Dr. Hunt by January 31.

The Role of Ohio Law

Section 3313.48

Details: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3313.48

The calendar must provide minimum instructional-hour requirements (910 hours per year for grades K-6, 1001 hours per year for grades 7-12

  • This does include recess if it’s less than 15 minutes

  • This does not include lunch.

The board must hold a public hearing at least 30 days before adopting the calendar to talk about hours, start/end dates, and school day length.

Section 3313.63

Details: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3313.63

Schools are allowed (but not required) to close on common federal and state holidays (New Year’s Day, MLK Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus/Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas).

Boards also may close for days set by the governor or president as fast***/thanksgiving/mourning days, and for teacher professional meetings.

*** A gubernatorial day of fast does not mean a diet or medical fast. It means a symbolic day of restraint, reflection, or prayer, rooted in historical practice. The Governor can issue a formal proclamation naming a day and its purpose.

Closing Thoughts

School calendars are the product of many overlapping forces: contractual requirements, state law, instructional hour mandates, staffing realities, childcare needs, religious observance, and community input. There are real tradeoffs, and no calendar will meet every need equally. But how we navigate those tradeoffs matters.

Transparency in decision-making is not about guaranteeing specific outcomes. It is about clearly articulating what factors were considered, what data was used, what assumptions were made, and why certain choices were prioritized over others. When those steps are visible, trust increases, even when decisions are difficult.

We must also recognize that calendars are not neutral. They reflect historical norms and embedded assumptions, some of which advantage certain families while rendering others less visible. A commitment to equity does not require perfection; it requires awareness, honesty, and better data.

My hope is that by understanding this process more fully, community members feel empowered to participate. Together, we can continue to build a calendar-making process that reflects the diversity, complexity, and values of our community.

Nidhi Satiani
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