JACKSON, Wyo. — On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the Teton County School District #1 (TCSD) Board of Trustees voted to extend the 2025/2026 school year to accommodate increased teacher collaboration, with the condition that the district will evaluate student success throughout the year.
Students will now start school before Labor Day on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, to make up for missed student instruction time due to the addition of 10 no school/in-service days scheduled throughout the year. The school year will end on Friday, June 12, 2026, and spring break will remain two weeks long.
A public survey that was distributed to parents the last two weeks of January revealed that out of 937 responses, 56.7% of community members prefer the option of a two-week spring break with a pre-Labor Day start.
During public comment, Jackson parent Spencer King urged the Trustees to delay their decision on the school calendar until after the Wyoming Senate votes on legislation that would require public schools to reduce the number of school days. The Summer Vacation Preservation Act or Senate Bill SF0072 states that “each school year shall commence after Labor Day and recess not later than Memorial Day in the immediately succeeding calendar year unless an alternative schedule has been approved by the state board.”
In response, the Board stated their decision to make teacher efficiency a priority. TCSD Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Dr. Scott Crisp referred to improved mid-year math scores at the Jackson Hole Middle School as an example that “collective teacher efficacy” was working.
Trustee Kate Mead said that she supports even more time for teachers to collaborate, but she insisted that metrics are needed to measure success. She added that parents have expressed concerns with increasing no school/in-service days next year.
“So we can expect higher test scores?” Mead asked. “If we’re going to do this, we need some sort of road map or goal for the end of the year. We are treading water if we don’t set some goals.”
Trustee Jerry Bosch also said that there needs to be a way to assess student learning, and he suggested looking at Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress (WY-TOPP) test scores.
“I would like to see some metrics that you come up with — because if it’s not working, we need to go back to the drawing board,” Bosch said.
Trustee Chair Betsy Carlin directed Dr. Crisp to set some measurable goals and to provide a report at end of the 2025/2026 school year with student assessment scores.
“I realize that test scores can’t always measure success, but we need classroom data of how students are doing,” Carlin said. “Thank you to the community for thinking about this for the past three months. Families have weighed in and I appreciate the engagement.”
The new 2025/2026 school calendar can be found here.
