Richland 1 is considering a new school year calendar. Will classes be held year round?
Richland School District 1 is considering a school year calendar that would create “year-round” classes as soon as 2026.
Some districts have begun to explore year-round calendars to prevent burnout in teachers and students and to offer additional opportunities for students, like academic remediation, the district said. Across the country, new calendars have been introduced to combat learning loss.
The “year-round” calendar, also known as a “balanced” calendar, allows school districts to redistribute the standard 180 days of classroom time more evenly through the year. While the typical months-long summer break would be cut a little short, additional breaks are added into the calendar.
As of 2022, about a quarter of South Carolina’s public schools had already made the switch, according to reporting by U.S. News and World Report. State law mandates that the opening date for a school’s academic year cannot be before the third Monday in August, according to the state Education Department. But those operating on modified year-round calendars are the exception.
Regardless, school districts must complete statewide assessment in accordance to the state department’s schedule.
A popular model of such a calendar features 45 days of school followed by a 15-day vacation. It repeats four times throughout the year. Richland 1 took a slightly different approach.
An initial draft by the Columbia district proposes that teachers return to work in mid-July, with classes starting a week later on July 21, 2026. In addition to a regular week-long Thanksgiving break in November and a two-week winter break in December that is already a part of Richland 1’s current calendar, the proposal includes a two-week fall break in October and a two-week spring break in March. The summer break would last from May 27, 2027, to mid-July.
Classes wouldn’t be the only thing changing. Extracurricular activities, like athletics and band, would have to adjust too, and districts also have to coordinate with after-school programs.
Richland 1 asked for input from the community in a recent district-wide survey. The results, released Thursday, were mixed.
Of the more than 4,000 respondents, many were parents, but other stakeholders like teachers, students, administrators and classified employees participated.
Just over half — about 55% — opposed the year-round calendar presented in the survey. About 37% were in favor of it, and about 7% had no strong feelings. The results of the survey will be shared with the calendar committee in the fall as it develops the 2026-2027 academic calendar, a district spokesperson said.
