The Tucson Unified School District proposed a four-day school week and a year-round calendar for the 2027-28 school year in an email survey to families over the summer break and late Friday afternoon.
The year-round option begins earlier in the summer and includes longer breaks during the school year. It would begin July 22, 2027 and end May 25, 2028.
TUSD is Southern Arizona’s largest school district with about 35,000 students in 88 schools. The district is currently tackling issues with chronic absenteeism and declining enrollment.
In the school calendar survey, the district floated four possible school schedules: the first mirrors the 2026-27 school year, the second extends Thanksgiving break, the third is a four-day school week, and the last is a year-round option.
No formal survey discussion has happened yet, Dr. Ravi Shah, TUSD Governing Board president told Arizona Luminaria via text message. “The district has a calendar committee working on options to present to the board. We’re just trying to see what parents think about different options.”
A four-day week was adopted by the board last spring for Palo Verde High School. Friday concluded the first full week of that new schedule. The east side school is the first traditional public school in the Tucson area with a four-day school week.
“I think a lot of our schedule is kind of built around how the school schedule is structured right now. I think a new one might affect a lot of things with my mom and dad’s work,” said University High School freshman Ramsey Hardin.
“And also I think it’s fun to have a break in school in general. Summer’s a big social time for kids. It’s like a time where you can go to the mall,” he said. “You can do things. You can meet new people at camps and what not.”
“I think that’s just really important to social life and what not,” he said. “So I personally would be in support of things staying five week days the way it is.”
The proposed calendar is similar to Palo Verde’s schedule, which runs Monday-Thursday with Fridays off.
Palo Verde is a pilot program without an official time limit and will cost more than $6.2 million, TUSD’s financial analysis said last April. That’s Palo Verde’s $6.11 million budget plus additional staffing needs.
Palo Verde’s four-day school week includes a longer school day with seven, 60-minute classes from 8:10 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. Fridays are free for students and abbreviated for staff, who rotate to support students. The fifth day of the week is for credit recovery, academic help, internships and family flexibility, staff told the board.
Among TUSD’s 10 largest high schools, Palo Verde has seen the most growth — 11% over the last four years, according to Arizona Department of Education data. It has almost 700 students.
The Chandler Unified School District, Arizona’s second-largest district — has a modified year-round school year which allows two week breaks in the fall, winter and spring, which reduced burnout for students and staff, the district website says.
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