Going balanced: Spokane Public Schools’ summer vacation soon to end early in exchange for more breaks in the school year

After a yearslong exploration of what such a concept could look like in Spokane Public Schools, the district and staff have agreed to adopt a more “balanced calendar” for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years.

“We’ve had a pretty consistent calendar for a really long time in public education, and there is always value in exploring other ideas, other concepts,” Superintendent Adam Swinyard said in an interview Thursday.

The new calendars, which were approved by members of the Spokane Education Association at a meeting Wednesday, stunt summer break by about a week while adding more time off throughout the school year.

It’s the same state-mandated 180 days of student instruction, just spread in such a way that gives staff and students more frequent breaks to “recharge their batteries” Swinyard said.

“There was an emphasis put on having a substantive break every six to eight weeks, and that is really centered around well-being of staff, well-being of kids trying to mitigate attendance issues, looking for ways to not concentrate our time off in such large chunks, with summer regression and availability of activities,” Swinyard said.

The school year will start three days sooner than the typical post-Labor Day beginning, set for Aug. 26, 2026. In addition to the typical federal holidays when schools close, students and staff will have a substantial pause just about every month of the school year.

October 19 to 23 will be a week-long break for students and staff. November will bring the typical three-day break around Thanksgiving, followed by the standard two weeks off for winter break from December 21 to January 1.

February 15 to 19 will be a new week-long break for students and staff, followed by spring break on April 12 to 16, pushed back slightly with the addition of the February break. School wraps around the same time, set for June 17, 2027.

“Give people a week, get their feet underneath them, get caught back up on their sleep,” Swinyard said. “Maybe if they’re kind of starting to feel a little run down, they can kind of recharge their batteries, and then we’re back in school.”

The district has been looking into the possibility of such a calendar for more than a year with committees made up of staff, students, families and school administrators. One major factor the work group considered was access to child care and activities schedules.

To address this, Swinyard said the district is working with other organizations like Boys and Girls Club, Spokane Youth Sports Association and Spokane Transit Authority to coordinate programs for kids during these weeks to, in part, address the child care needs and keep kids entertained.

“Just like we want to work and support our working parents during the summer, we also want to, as a community, be thinking the same way during these intermittent breaks,” he said.

Swinyard said the calendar changes are a sort of trial run, and he’s not committed to keeping the balanced calendar after the 2027-28 school year.

The balanced calendar is in effect for two school years, then it’s back to the bargaining table for the district and union to draw new calendars for the next three years. Time will tell if these changes stick.

“We’re trying some new ideas: doesn’t mean that these ideas are forever ideas, doesn’t mean that it’s going to be what our community ultimately is supportive of in the long run,” Swinyard said. “It’s good to try new things in public education.”

Spokane Public Schools isn’t alone in the balanced calendar transition. Last year was Freeman School District’s first with a more balanced calendar. Central Valley School District started this school year a week sooner than is typical in exchange for more breaks. East Valley has offered a successful year-round Continuous Curriculum School as an option for families for nearly three decades.