District confirms start-of-school schedule; notes state statute prevents pre–Labor Day start

District administrators outlined plans for the start of the 2025–26 school year at the Aug. 21 board meeting. Staff said all employees return the week before students for building- and district-level professional learning; students will begin Tuesday, Sept. 2. Elementary schools will welcome half of kindergarten on Sept. 2 with the second half the following day; first through fifth graders will begin Sept. 2. The middle school will host sixth-grade orientation on Sept. 2, with grades 6–8 in session on Sept. 3; the high school will hold ninth-grade orientation on Sept. 2 and welcome all high-school grades on Sept. 3. The district adjusted the school day minutes and communicated new bell times: elementary and middle schools will start at 7:50 a.m. and dismiss at 3:10 p.m.; the high school will start at 7:45 a.m. and dismiss at 3:15 p.m. Staff also announced back-to-school events and open houses for late August and early September. District presenters reminded the public that, by state statute, the district may not start school prior to Labor Day, a constraint that informed the adopted calendar.