PW-S District plan would shorten school year by days

The Port Washington-Saukville School District rolled out a draft 2026-27 calendar last week that would shorten the school year by days, wrap up classes before Memorial Day and better prepare students for a battery of standardized tests administered during the second semester, Supt. Michael McMahon told the School Board.

The last day of classes under the proposed calendar would be May 28, with Port Washington High School graduation on Sunday, May 23 — a significant change for a district that traditionally has stretched classes into June and held graduation as late as the second Sunday of that month.

“Kids are ready for summer on June 1,” McMahon said.

Key to the plan, which could be approved by the School Board later this month, is a schedule change at the high school that will add 17 minutes of instructional time a day. About five minutes a day would have to be added to the Thomas Jefferson Middle School schedule.

Instead of requiring a minimum number of instructional days, state law now mandates a minimum amount of instructional time per school year. That allows districts to shorten their school years by adding instructional time to the day.

“This is really a pretty typical school calendar September through May, but adding instructional minutes would allow our students to be done on May 28 for the 2026-27 school year and have enough time built in to allow for multiple snow days,” McMahon said. 

An important advantage to the calendar is that it would expose students to more instruction before three key exams administered between March and early May — the Wisconsin Forward Exam taken by students in third through eighth grades and sophomores and ACT college entrance exams and Advanced Placement tests taken by high school students.

“By adding 17 minutes (of instruction) a day for the 145 to 155 days before those assessments, we are getting more instruction to those students (before the tests),” McMahon said, adding that staff members and parents who were asked to provide feedback on the proposal considered this a significant advantage.

The calendar would not only shorten the school year for students — by four days to 170 days — but also shorten it for staff members, from 190 to 186 contract days.

That, McMahon said, is a perk for employees that could help the district attract and retain teachers while also opening up other possibilities.

“We could be looking at adding weeks or days to our summer school program,” he said.

School Board member Kierstin Cira, a teacher in the West Bend School District, praised the proposal.

“I want to say thank you for creating a schedule that is September through May because I know you can do it, I know we can get those minutes in,” she said.

The district, in fact, has already taken steps to shorten the school year by, for instance, not starting winter break this year until Dec. 23 and having it run through Jan. 2.

“We really wanted to make sure we were done (with this school year) by the first week of June,” McMahon said. “I shared with a number of teachers, ‘Just think about June 5. We are done with kids on June 5.’”

Winter break would be about the same in the 2026-27 school year, running Dec. 23 throughout Jan. 1, and spring break would be the same as all other school districts in the area — March 22 through March 29.

The first day of classes would be Tuesday, Sept. 1, as early as they can begin under state law. Districts can request a waiver to start earlier for reasons that include building projects, but the construction of the new Saukville Elementary School will not interfere with the school calendar, McMahon said.  

School Board member Stephanie Trigsted, a parent of elementary school students, said she is happy to see the district would again hold Great Start Conferences at the end of August before classes begin. The conferences give elementary school students and their parents the opportunity to meet teachers, tour their classrooms and schools and organize their supplies so those things don’t interfere with the first days of classes.

“I appreciate that we’re doing the Great Start Conferences again,” she said. “I enjoyed them, and I’ve talked to many parents who also enjoyed the opportunity.”

The conferences, McMahon said, allow students to focus on academics from day one of classes.

“It’s cool seeing kids coming in on the first day of school without a backpack full of Kleenex and Clorox wipes and pencils and pencil carriers,” he said. “You can get all that done (ahead of time) and kids walk in confidently with just a backpack and know where they’re going and know what their teacher looks like.”