October 24, 2023

The Tuscaloosa County School System is in the process of developing our academic calendar for the next two years. The format that develops from this process will be applied to the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 academic calendars. We invite TCSS families, faculty, and staff to participate in the calendar development process in the following ways:

1. Please review the current year’s academic calendar.
   
   
2. Please read the Calendar Guidelines (listed below) to become familiar with requirements and decisions related to the development of the calendar.
   
   
3. Take this survey after completing the steps above. The survey will remain open until Friday, November 3 at Noon. You may also copy and paste the survey link: https://forms.office.com/r/dWrFsJqY3P

Once the survey closes, a committee of parents/guardians and faculty/staff will review the results and develop a proposed calendar for upcoming years. Families, faculty, and staff will then have an opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed calendar.

Once the window to provide feedback closes, the Superintendent will make a recommendation to the Board for approval of the 2024-2025 TCSS Academic Calendar. The same format will also be applied to the 2025-2026 TCSS Academic Calendar.

Calendar Guidelines

• By State Law, school systems must complete a minimum of 1,080 hours, or 64,800 minutes, of instructional time during an academic year. Previously, State law mandated 180 days, but did not allow any time for half days or other exceptions. Instructional time cannot include time for lunch, breaks, or transitions such as class changes.
  
  
• At least seven faculty days are required, and faculty/staff must meet their contracted days, regardless of student days. Most nine-month employees are on a 187-day contract.
  
  
• Schools may not be in session on Veterans Day or Memorial Day. Schools may be in session any other day of the year that is approved by the local Board of Education.

Considerations and Frequently Asked Questions

Why do we start school so early in August? Will we be out of school before Memorial Day?
We must meet the instructional minutes requirement, as described above. The later we start the school year, the fewer holidays that can be taken during the year, or school has to extend beyond Memorial Day.

Professional Development Days for Teachers
These are not a “day off” for teachers. Research from all aspects of educational study provides evidence that teachers need time to collaborate, plan, align lessons to standards, develop intervention plans for struggling students, and develop extensions for students who need additional challenge.

Fairly Consistent Time for Each Semester of School
Semesters should be fairly close in days and/or instructional time.

Holiday Decisions
All holiday decisions impact start and end dates for the academic year.

Coordination with the Tuscaloosa City Schools and The University of Alabama
In our community, many households have members who attend and/or are employed by TCSS, as well as either UA and/or TCS. Therefore, calendar coordination with TCS and UA is meaningful for many families, particularly for Spring Break, as well as other holiday breaks and school year start/end dates.