Status of Reduced Academic Calendar Approvals in Colorado
Updated September 2025
One hundred thirty-three authorizers, constituting 72% of the one hundred eighty-five authorizers in Colorado (including BOCES and CSI), and 430 of 1,833 total K-12 schools (23%) utilize a reduced academic calendar of fewer than 160 days in 2025-26.
Of Colorado's small rural districts (fewer than 1000 students), 229 schools (of the 265 K-12 small rural schools) comprising 80% of small rural student K-12 enrollment are on reduced calendars. For rural districts, 92 schools (of the 244 K-12 rural schools) comprising 34% of rural K-12 student enrollment are on reduced calendars. In non-rural and other districts, 109 schools are on a reduced academic calendar, totaling 7% of K-12 enrollment for non-rural schools.
The law does require any district offering less than 160 days of school to obtain prior permission from the Commissioner of Education. One of the duties of local school boards is:
C.R.S 22-32-109 (n) (I) To determine, prior to the end of a school year, the length of time which the schools of the district shall be in session during the next following school year, but in no event shall said schools be scheduled to have less than one thousand eighty hours of planned teacher-pupil instruction and teacher- pupil contact during the school year for secondary school pupils in high school, middle school, or junior high school or less than nine hundred ninety hours of such instruction and contact for elementary school pupils or less than four- hundred-fifty hours of such instruction for a half-day kindergarten program. In no case shall a school be in session for fewer than one hundred sixty days without the specific prior approval of the commissioner of education.
All schools must continue to meet or exceed the instructional hours that are required by statute for elementary, middle, and high school schedules. The specific hour requirements are found in Colorado Revised Statute 22-32-109. State Board Rule 1 CCR 301-39, amended in 2012, states that teacher-pupil contact and teacher-pupil instruction means that time when a pupil is actively engaged in the educational process of a district. Each local board of education shall define "educational process," which definition may include any work-study time provided under the supervision of a certificated or licensed teacher but shall not include any time provided for lunch. Each local board of education shall define "supervision of a certificated or licensed teacher" and each local board of education shall define "educational process" which may include passing time in that definition.
Please contact individual districts if there is a desire for specific information.