By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
School boards have a series of requirements to meet when setting the annual calendar each year. Teachers must get in their time and, so too, must the students. Holidays also play a role. Monday evening, the USD 428 Board of Education approved the 2025-26 calendar for Great Bend schools. Superintendent Khris Thexton said the winter holiday season is the biggest change.
"Students will start on Aug. 14, and the last day for students will be May 13," he said. "The difference for this year compared to last year, you'll see that the Christmas Break, when you have actual Christmas Day where it lands does affect how the Christmas break is split up."
Dec. 25, 2025 falls on a Thursday, so students will go be on break from Dec. 22 through Jan. 2, 2026, then return to school on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. The Christmas break in 2024 will also be 10 school days, compared to just seven school days this school year. Aug. 23 marked the first day of classes for the current school year. That will be moved back to Aug. 14 for the next two years. Great Bend High School graduation will remain on Sundays but the district will soon be sending out a survey to gauge interest in changing the day to Saturday.
"Especially as we get closer to graduation when it's fresh on everybody's mind, so that way it's more, 'Is this a good time or not?'" Thexton said. "I think everybody just reacts to the time and plans accordingly."
The 2025 GBHS Commencement is scheduled for Sunday, May 11.