Park City School District maintains traditional calendar after community weighs in

Park City School District office. Photo: TownLift // Rayne Moynahan

PARK CITY, Utah — The Park City School District will maintain its traditional school calendar after a significant majority of families and staff rejected proposals for major changes, district leaders announced at a board meeting on Tuesday.

This decision follows a comprehensive survey of 2,087 community members, which was the district’s first polling since 2019. The survey revealed strong support for keeping the February break and the Friday early release schedule that have characterized the district’s academic year.

“We received 2,087 responses, which is phenomenal from my perspective,” said Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman during the meeting. “It shows that our community wanted to have input and has opinions about the school calendar.”

The survey offered three options to families, employees, and students. The first option, which preserved the existing schedule with minor adjustments, received the most support from all groups surveyed, including parents, employees, students, and community members.

Two key elements emerged as non-negotiable for the Park City community: a full week off in February and the Friday early release schedule. “We decided not to change February break,” Huntsman stated. “We communicated that in our newsletter last week. We will not change February break, and we will maintain the Friday early releases.”

The data supported this decision. When asked about keeping the Friday early release, 84% of respondents across different interest groups favored maintaining the shortened schedule.

The survey indicated less enthusiasm for other proposed changes. A majority opposed ending the semester before winter break, a suggestion some secondary teachers had made to avoid cramming finals into the week before the holiday vacation. Additionally, most respondents rejected the idea of starting school earlier in August and finishing before Memorial Day.

The district plans to implement only two changes: adding two professional development days on August 18-19, designed to provide teachers with protected time to prepare their classrooms before students arrive. This change directly addresses feedback from educators who prefer meaningful preparation time over district-directed training.

“There was support for professional development days, but with caution,” Huntsman said, summarizing teacher feedback among the 769 written comments received. “Teachers expressed that if they’re given a professional development day, they want the flexibility to work in their classrooms, prepare lessons, or set up for the first day of school.”

The survey also revealed complications in calendar planning beyond simple start and end dates. Some comments highlighted conflicts with major community events; this year, a professional development day unintentionally coincided with the Park City Community Foundation’s annual Live PC Give PC fundraising event. “Please don’t schedule a professional development day on the Friday of Live PC Give PC,” Huntsman said, summarizing community feedback. “Students are out of school, but teachers are in professional development while the event is happening.”

Other considerations mentioned included traffic patterns, a growing concern in the resort community, and the impact on Running with Ed, a major fundraiser typically held on the third Saturday in May, which could be affected if school ended before Memorial Day.

Spring break timing produced mixed responses, with most families indicating that the second week of April works well. However, no strong preference emerged for aligning with other Wasatch Back school districts.

The district conducted this partial survey because many families moved to Park City during and after the pandemic, creating a new constituency that had not previously voiced opinions about calendar preferences. “We haven’t surveyed our community since 2019,” Huntsman explained. “Many new families moved here during and after the pandemic, which is why we wanted to find out what our families value.”

The board will vote on a refined version of Option 1 in November. District officials plan to establish a three-year calendar to help families plan major trips and commitments well in advance. “We have families planning trips for next fall already, and they want to know what the calendar will look like,” Huntsman said.

The calendar will meet Utah’s requirement of 180 school days, with the district utilizing up to four of those days for teacher preparation time. Snow days remain part of the schedule, which is essential for a mountain resort community.

One parent, Carolyn Gallagher, suggested at the meeting that the district consider a fixed red and white day schedule instead of the current rotating system, citing difficulties coordinating early release and late start days. Huntsman acknowledged that this idea had been discussed during recent conversations about school realignment, but it has not gained significant traction yet. “That’s not a discussion that has had a lot of traction so far, but it doesn’t mean we can’t consider it,” she said.

The message from Park City’s community appears clear: in a rapidly changing educational landscape, some traditions are worth keeping.