Fall finals after Christmas? APS seeks public input on next school calendars

Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ — Albuquerque Public Schools families have an opportunity to help district leaders decide on a potentially radical calendar change.

An APS survey now open is part of the district’s efforts to create calendars far enough in advance to help families plan around school dates.

The survey offers a pair of options for the 2027-2028 school year. One possible change would extend the fall semester into January.

The survey closes Feb. 20. All responses are anonymous and confidential. There’s a space for respondents to share their thoughts in their own words.

Survey questions cover topics such as a respondent’s status (student, district employee, parent or guardian or community member),  

The calendar designated “Option A” features classes starting in early August and ending in May.

“Option B” would include a late-August start and a school year that ends in mid-June. District officials say that option could spare students from the severe heat typically present in early August.

The later start would mean that students would take fall final exams in January — after the holiday break, rather than before.

Under either scenario, parent-teacher conferences would take place on the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, there would be a two-week winter break and fall break would include the Friday of Balloon Fiesta and Indigenous Peoples Day.

Considerations weighed as the calendar options were developed include:

The same start and end dates for all schools

Parent-teacher conferences on the same dates for all grades

More uninterrupted five-day weeks.

The input gathered from the survey will be shared with district leadership and the APS Board of Education. The board is expected to approve a calendar later this spring.

APS Spokesperson Martin Salazar told CityDesk ABQ the district’s last calendar survey had 12,936 respondents.

“We don’t have a particular target for this year’s survey,” Salazar said. “We just want families, students, staff and the broader Albuquerque community to be aware of it and to take it.”