But some Ross school parents in recent years have complained about the relatively early school opening dates — this school year classes began on Aug. 8 — saying they preferred the mid- to late-August starts used by most other local public-school systems.
And after a 5-0 Thursday vote by the Ross Board of Education , which adopted a rare three-year school calendar – instead of the traditional two-year calendar, the coming school year for students, school families and school staffers will now begin Aug. 18.
Prompted by the district’s recent survey of school families, employees and Ross residents, the results, said Ross officials, showed support for the calendar changes.
“Our team worked hard to ensure the new three-year calendar reflects the input and needs of all our stakeholders,” said Ross Superintendent William Rice.
“This was truly a collaborative process, and I’m grateful for the board’s support as we’ve established a calendar that allows our staff and families to plan long-term with confidence,” said Rice.
“Two of the biggest things we heard from stakeholders in the survey was to start school later in August, which meant they wanted reduced breaks in order to maintain the end of the school year being before Memorial Day,” said Rice.
“You’ll notice that there is no fall break as Ross Schools has had in recent years, and break over Thanksgiving has gone back to three days rather than the full week.”
For more than a decade Ross Schools have annually been rated by the Ohio Department of Education as the top academic performer in annual district report cards compared to Butler County’s nine other public-school districts.
In April 2024, the school was ranked 91st out of Ohio’s 1,152 public high schools, according to an annual review of public high schools by U.S. News & World Report.
School calendars, usually done by districts in two-year increments, are inherently complicated as they must incorporate teaching and non-teaching employee labor contracts, national holidays, state-testing mandates, facility usage schedules and other factors.
School Board President Greg Young said after the vote: “I want to thank Dr. Rice and his team for their dedication to creating a calendar that meets the needs and desires of our stakeholders.”
“Their consistent communication throughout the process has been outstanding, and I am excited about what the future holds for Ross Local Schools.”
For more details on the new, three-year calendar, which starts in August with the coming 2025-2026 school year, see Ross Schools’ website.
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