LOVELAND, Colo. — As we wrap up this year, some northern Colorado school districts are already planning ahead for the beginning of the next school year because of something we have been following for you for a while: the lack of air conditioning.
The Thompson School District, which serves the city of Loveland and parts of Larimer, Weld and Boulder counties, just approved a new calendar with a later start date to help students avoid those boiling summer days in the classroom.
As we wrap up this year, some northern Colorado school districts are already planning for the start of next school year because of something we have been following for you for a while: the lack of air conditioning.
The Thompson School District just approved a new calendar with a later start date to help students avoid intense summer heat in classrooms.
It’s a relief for some teachers in the district, like Amanda Myers.
“My classroom has been, in August and September, it’s been maybe 87 degrees,” she told Denver7. “That’s just with me in there. When you have children in there, it’s really hot in the classrooms. They’re miserable. They’re not learning. So I think pushing it back is a great idea.”
The district is pushing back the start of the school year by a week, to fall 2026, due to high temperatures and a lack of air conditioning in some schools.
TSD’s calendar committee spent the past few months drawing on feedback from a community calendar survey and guidance from the Negotiations Team, district policy, and state guidelines to make the changes.
The 2026-2027 school year will start on August 20, and the 2027-2028 school year will start on August 19.
Earlier this month, Poudre School District officials opted for similar calendar changes.
The 2026-2027 school year will start on August 19 for PSD students.
“We’ve been wrestling with the heat day concern at the beginning of every year for the last several years,” said PSD school board director Scott Schoenbauer.
The first week of school this year ended in multiple heat-related early-release days for both districts – a hassle for parents forced to rearrange their work schedules on short notice.
“Yeah, it made it difficult some days,” said TSD parent Michele Heaton.
Back in August, the Colorado Department of Education told Denver7 that while they do require a minimum of 160 days of instruction, they don’t set guidelines for when the school year should begin.
Most districts choose to start in early August so they can end the year earlier.
“It seems like every year they start a little earlier, just a few days here and there, and it just keeps creeping up. So hopefully this will settle it back down,” added Heaton.
Parents say it’s a start — though teachers like Myers hope it’s the first step to more long-term solutions.
“In all honesty, we need funding to get our schools air conditioned,” said Myers, “if we could get funding for every building to get air conditioning, that would be great.”
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