SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Public Schools is exploring the possibility of more evenly spreading out school days across the year in a balanced schedule. A few local districts have already made the move, but it comes with pros and cons.
East Valley School District has a Continuous Curriculum School which spreads days of instruction out, but their approach is slightly different from what SPS is considering.
For a balanced approach, schools would go into late June and begin again in early August, according to Pomeroy School District Superintendent Rachel Gwinn.
The goal of a balanced schedule is to avoid what’s called the “summer slide.” This summer learning loss shows students can loses skills and knowledge over a long break, according to research.
“Statistics show every time if we already have a kid behind, they just get further and further behind, the bigger gap we have without exposure to education,” said Superintendent Gwinn.
On a balanced calendar, schools would still have the 180 days of required instruction.
The Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Office distributed grant money for school districts to explore this approach.
While Pomeroy received some of the grant funds, the district opted not to move to the balanced schedule.
“High school, really, they didn’t want to engage too much into that learning and I think it’s because they would face a few more challenges than elementary potentially,” said Superintendent Gwinn. “Just, they’re doing sports, what’s that look like when you’re having days off when in intermission and other schools aren’t?”
For Spokane Public Schools, the district is considering both a year-round schedule and a balanced schedule for the 2026-2027 school year, but no decision has been made.
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