Fort Mill could soon join Clover, York and other school districts in using a modified ‘year-round’ calendar with extra breaks in the fall and winter.
The Fort Mill School District board saw a proposal Wednesday night for the 2025-26 school year that includes a week off each in October and February. Board feedback was largely positive, but a final decision won’t come until next month.
“A lot of people have expressed the interest in this fall week off, and a February week as well, to sort of reset,” said board Chairwoman Kristy Spears.
The calendar used now is considered a “modified year-round calendar,” but it works like a traditional one with an earlier start date than was once allowed in South Carolina. The new ‘year-round’ calendar proposed would still have a two-month summer break, but also would have time off in new spots throughout the year.
What’s in the new school calendar?
If approved, the calendar would bring students back for an Aug. 4, 2025, start date next fall. Teachers would return one week prior. Both starts are four days earlier than the return dates when the current school year started last month.
Three days off at Thanksgiving, two weeks off (plus an extra teacher work day) for winter break around Christmas and New Year’s Day, spring break in April and an end-of-May finish would be similar to a traditional calendar.
The new pieces are a week off Oct. 6-10, 2025, and another for Feb. 16-20, 2026. District and school administrators would still work, but classroom teachers wouldn’t.
“The rule of thumb is if you’re off in the summer, you’re going to be off during these weeks,” said district spokesman Joe Burke.
Advantages to a new calendar
Districts across York County and the state have gone with the extra weeks off approach in the most recent school years. Burke spoke with local and state districts to gauge how those efforts went.
“It seems to be very popular,” he said of the fall and winter weeks off, “especially with their communities that like to travel.”
The Fort Mill calendar has a half-day in October for elementary school teachers to host parent teacher conferences. It splits the high school schedule into even semesters around winter break. Board member Scott Frattaroli, a former teacher and principal in the district, sees an interruption in the long slog between winter and spring breaks.
“Do I think it’s going to make everybody happy? No,” he said. “But I do think when you see starting earlier and you see those weeks built in throughout the year, I think it helps.”
District facilities could be used during those breaks like they are during the summer, for outside groups hosting camps or events, said Superintendent Chuck Epps. There already have been some conversations with after-school groups, he said.
Are there drawbacks to the calendar?
Going to a ‘year-round’ model each year could mean challenges.
High school athletics, band and other extracurricular activities would have to adjust and students could be at school for those programs during breaks. Next year there’s an elementary school opening, so starting earlier shortens the timeline to finish that construction.
Employees new to the state who start before Aug. 2 next year would have an extra insurance payment added to their checks, but they’d also get August coverage for it.
“One of the downsides of doing this calendar is we do come back earlier,” Burke said.
Summer next year would be 10 weeks for students, if the new calendar is adopted for the following fall.
The 2026 summer break could be a week shorter, depending on variables like Election Day off or what days of the week holidays hit.
Spears wondered what coming years might look like, given the proposed calendar already goes past Memorial Day in 2026. There’s also thought on when weeks off should be scheduled.
“I like the downtime in February,” Spears said. “There’s not really anywhere I want to go in February.”
COVID, calendars and the rest of York County
A little more than a year ago, school districts across South Carolina began toying with calendar changes.
The state rule had mandated that school start no earlier than the third Monday in August. Districts, wanting to start earlier to split semesters evenly around winter break, found a loophole. The third Monday rule applied, unless schools used a year-round calendar.
“The Wild West of calendars kicked off” as districts created their own models, said Burke, who works with district staff to create Fort Mill’s calendar. Some started school in mid-July. Others barely shifted from a traditional calendar but labeled themselves with a “modified year-round calendar” to start earlier.
York, Clover and Chester County schools have models with fall and winter weeks off this year. Fort Mill, Rock Hill and Lancaster County don’t.
Yet in conversation with counterparts in other districts, Burke believes the area could move back toward a time when district calendars aligned closely. Some other districts haven’t begun the approval process for next year’s calendar.
“I feel like we’re all going to be fairly close in what’s presented,” Burke said.
The extra weeks off model, where they’re taken from summer break and slotted into the school year, could become the new normal. It isn’t just splitting semesters or parent feedback wanting the extra travel options.
The COVID pandemic, Burke said, disrupted the routine school calendars had gotten into for many years. Coming out of it, districts looked at what they could do to best serve teachers and students.
“After going through those years of such a stressful and mentally draining time, people have looked at these types of models and the they see the benefit of taking a break,” Burke said.
Which calendar do you prefer?
Ahead of a final decision next month, the school board will take comments from the community. To submit them, email thoughts or concerns to communications@fortmillschools.org.
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