The Great Falls Public Schools board adopted the 2026-2027 calendar during their March 10 meeting.

The calendar is adopted annually, working a year ahead, by a committee creating options based on a number of factors and after gathering public feedback.

Luke Diekhans, GFPS human resources director, said creating the calendar is “complex.”

The calendar committee, as set by collective bargaining agreements, includes three teachers, three administrative personnel, three classified personnel and three parents appointed by the superintendent who develop proposals for the school calendar.

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The calendar committee met Jan. 9, Feb. 4 and March 4 and narrowed 13 options to three that were presented to the public through a survey from Feb. 7-21.

They considered start and end dates, number of days in quarters, testing dates, athletics, activities, holidays/breaks, professional development days and payroll spacing, Diekhans said.

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There were 815 responses to the GFPS calendar survey.

Of those:

• 25 percent were community members with children in GFPS schools
• 36 percent were GFPS staff members with children in GFPS schools
• 34 percent were GFPS staff with no children
• 3 percent were community members with no children
• 2 percent were community members with no children

The district shared three calendar options in February for public feedback.

Of the responses:

• 41 percent chose option A
• 25 percent chose option B
• 34 percent chose option C

The calendar committee reviewed public input during their March 4 meeting and agreed to recommend option A to the board for approval, which they unanimously granted.

Diekhans said that over the years, feedback has focused on avoiding too early a start in August and always being out by the first week in June.

Extended winter holiday breaks and the spring break are also often mentioned, Diekhans said.

Kim Skornogoski, school board member who served on the calendar committee, said there are “a lot of factors that go into making a calendar.”

She said the district annually collects pubic comments and uses them to guide their decisions.

Skornogoski said that they consider classroom temperatures for the start of the year, spring sports, Christmas concerts, the need in the community for summer workers, including monthly days off to reduce sick days and other factors.

Diekhans said that they also consider summer community programs such as kids camps because students loose opportunities for those if the school year goes late into June.

Skornogoski said that the three options presented for public feedback were similar, showing the feedback distributed between the calendars in an effort to meet community needs.

Diekhans and Skornogoski said that they wanted to look at options within the collective bargaining agreements for which days had to be accounted for to potentially have more flexibility in developing the calendar.

There was no public comment on the calendar for the 2026-2027 school year and the board approved option A unanimously.