The Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education voted with most survey respondents when Draft B was chosen as the instructional calendar for the 2025-2026 school year. The choice puts the start of the school year on July 25, 2025, for kindergarten, sixth and ninth grades and July 28 for all other grade levels. Instructional calendars for the next three school years were also approved.
According to Dr. Wendi Miller-Tomlinson, who led the committee work that produced three calendar options to the community and the board for consideration, more than 5,000 responses were logged from an online survey that launched Jan. 16 on the LCPS website and social media. The survey was open to all students, parents, staff and community members. The survey choices included Option A, with balanced breaks throughout the year for students and teachers, Option B with a longer summer break and shorter fall and spring breaks, and Option C which also had a longer summer break and fewer interruptions during the school year. Overall, survey respondents asked for a calendar that balances breaks to support mental health and academic retention.
The challenges with Draft B were also discussed, including concern that longer summer breaks could have an impact on learning retention and transitioning back to school after a long summer can be challenging for some students. Responding to a request for more consistency in the school years and the need for stability led the board to subsequently approve instructional calendars for the next three school years. In all, instructional calendars for the 2025-2026 school year, the 2026-2027 school year and the 2027-2028 school year were all approved.
All instructional calendars are available in English and Spanish on the LCPS website.