Los Lunas Schools Board of Education approves 2026-27 calendar

The Los Lunas Schools Board of Education unanimously approved its school calendar for the 2026–27 school year recently.

The board voted 5-0 to adopt “Calendar B,” one of three calendars under consideration after work by a district “calendar committee” and consultation with district employees and the community.

“The district is really trying to get more parent involvement (this time),” said Los Lunas Schools Marketing & Media Design Specialist Sidney Olivas. “So anything that we can get the word out, get them involved, give them a say in which calendar best fits their family schedule.”

The News-Bulletin contacted district Superintendent Susan B. Chavez seeking comment, who did not respond directly to the message; instead, Olivas answered questions regarding the calendar decision.

The three calendar choices were finalized by the calendar committee, which first convened in October. As reported to the Los Lunas Board of Directors in the weeks before the presentation, the committee included a diverse group of stakeholders, including certified staff, classified employees, parents, and representatives from the Los Lunas chapter of the National Education Association.

The committee worked for four weeks, examining requirements from the New Mexico Public Education Department and incorporating survey results gathered from both community members and district employees.

“I would say there is some pushback every year, because again, you can’t make everyone happy,” Olivas said of past calendars. “But I would say since there was more involvement in the survey, I would say a vast majority of our families were pleased with the outcome.”

The approved calendar covers the NMPED-mandated 1,140 hours of student instruction over 181 days and 191 days for teachers, including 10 professional development days. Four days of remote learning are also included, which the district has banked in the past for inclement weather or emergencies.

All three calendar options that were presented featured a student end date before Memorial Day, but varied with their start dates as well as vacation days.

Calendar A, which received 33.7 percent of the vote, had teachers starting on July 30 with students’ first day on August 4. A one-day fall break was included on Oct. 9, followed by a three-day Thanksgiving break and a two-week winter break. A week-long spring break was set for mid-March.

Calendar C, the least popular choice with 26.2 percent of the vote, had a very early start date for both teachers and students, with teachers’ professional development running from July 20-24 and students starting on July 27. This calendar had a week off for Thanksgiving, a two-week winter break, and a week-long spring break.

Calendar B was the most popular at 40 percent of the community and employee vote.

Like Calendar A, students start school on Aug. 4 but have a full week off for Thanksgiving break. Spring break follows Easter, running from March 29 through April 2, two weeks after the March break in Calendar A.

The final day for students in Calendar B will be May 28. All calendars included the same required days off by NMPED: Labor Day (August), Indigenous People’s Day (October), Election Day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day and the day following (November); Christmas day and the day following (December), New Year’s Day and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January), President’s Day (February), Good Friday (March), Memorial Day (May), Juneteenth (June) and Independence Day (July).

During its public outreach, the district received 1,410 responses from community members.

More than 78 percent of voters said it was “very important” that school start no earlier than Aug. 1, which was the most overwhelming response. More than 69 percent supported ending school before Memorial Day.

In contrast, 50.8 percent responded “very important” to the question of a full week off for Thanksgiving. The closest results were aligning Spring break with local universities — 39 percent said it was very important, compared to 35.8 percent who said it was not important.

On the question of a balanced calendar with students starting in mid-July and finishing after Memorial Day, 75.7 percent of the community responded that they did not prefer the option.

Results for the NEA survey were very similar. Teachers overwhelmingly voted no to the questions of returning to work before August and returning to work for a few days after May 31 (both 68.3 percent). Teachers voted yes to the questions of a balanced calendar (65.1 percent) and a week-long Thanksgiving break (73 percent).