A NEW YEAR — While Toronto City Schools are in the middle of a school year, the district’s board of education reorganizes each January, with members J.J. Liddick and Julie Ault elected president and vice president, respectively, on Thursday. Liddick, Ault and Randy Henry also were administered oaths of office after being re-elected to their seats last year. The board includes from left, front, Henry and Jay Foster; and back: Andy Reeves, Ault and Liddick. -- Contributed

TORONTO — The Toronto Board of Education Thursday reorganized for the new year and approved the calendar for the 2026-27 school year.

While much of the calendar is similar to this year’s, it will differ in the introduction of Maymester, a six-week period during which students will be able to choose from an assortment of elective courses.

It’s a practice that has been adopted by other local schools to retain students’ interest in the last month of the school year.

Pending approval from school officials, teachers at those schools have spun off ideas from the usual core subjects they teach for courses that often engage students in hands-on activities.

Courses that introduce students to the world of forensic science or a specific historical period are examples of those that have been offered in other schools.

Superintendent Maureen Taggart said those six weeks, separate from the regular school year, will provide time for teachers to work closely with students who have been struggling with math or reading and for those who have failed a course to begin retaking it, saving them some time in the summer.

Plans call for children in pre-kindergarten through second grade to take part in the One School One Book initiative, which involves all of them reading the same book together and engaging in related activities.

Maymester will immediately follow the two regular semesters of the school year, for which students’ grades will be calculated in April.

Because of the change, the first semester of the next school year will end before Christmas break, so students will take any exams required for their courses before, and not after, leaving school for the holidays, she noted.

But Taggart said the new timeline also aligns more with the courses being taken by students enrolled in the College Credit Plus program.

As with other Ohio school districts, Toronto City Schools has agreements with several colleges or universities that enable students to complete, at no cost, college level courses online or through instruction by local teachers approved to serve as adjunct instructors for the partnering schools.

Taggart said 26 Toronto High School students are enrolled in CCP, and 24 are on track to receive at least one associate’s degree with some working to earn two.

On Thursday, the school board approved renewal of such an agreement with Belmont College and a new agreement with Youngstown State University, which is poised to take over Eastern Gateway Community College’s Steubenville campus.

Taggart said there are details to be worked out with the latter, including whether two-year degrees would be available and whether its courses would be offered online or through Toronto staff.

But she acknowledged some students would welcome the opportunity to complete required core college courses before enrolling as paying students.

Each of the school district’s calendars is developed by a committee of administrators and teachers and voted upon by members of the Toronto Education Association before it’s submitted for the school board’s approval.

Following next year’s Back-to-School Bash, a community event offering school supplies, food and activities for students and their families, on Aug. 17, the school year will start on Aug. 21 for kindergarteners, Aug. 24 for pre-schoolers and Aug. 19 for all other students.

The calendar designates breaks from Nov. 25 through 30 around Thanksgiving, Dec. 21 through Jan. 1 around Christmas and New Year’s Day, and March 25 through 29 around Easter.

Depending on make-up days needed for cancellations and other issues, the school year is slated to end for all students except high school seniors on May 26, with the seniors’ last day designated as May 14 and their commencement as May 21.

The school board’s reorganization for the year involved the election of J.J. Liddick as president, marking his first turn at the role since his election to the board in 2022, and Julie Ault, a past president, as vice president.

Committee appointments for board members were divided in this way: Liddick and Jay Foster to the joint recreation board comprised of board members and city council representatives and the insurance committee; Foster and Andy Reeves to the athletic committee; Ault and Reeves to the finance committee; Ault and Liddick to the buildings and grounds committee and curriculum committee; Randy Henry and Reeves to the personnel committee and policy/procedure committee; and Ault and Liddick to the records committee.

Foster will represent the board on the Ohio School Boards Association.

Also on Thursday, the board:

• Approved a January 2027 trip to Disney World for the Toronto High School cheerleaders to compete in the Universal Cheerleaders Association’s National Championship.

Kelli Naylor, the squad’s coach, said the group will raise funds for the trip and lodging at the amusement park.

• Updated its policy for drivers transporting students to approved events to reflect the state’s new requirement that coaches and club advisers be subject to random drug testing, as is the case for school bus drivers.

Taggart said such staff also will undergo new online training provided by the state instead of the online program the school board had arranged through a private vendor.

She noted to be certified as van drivers for students, staff also must engage in a driving course overseen by the school district’s transportation director.

• Approved the hiring of the following athletic personnel: Matt Ludewig, Harris Ong, Trevor Host, Rick Daugherty and Michael Conlon as high school assistant football coaches; Madison Zdinak as high school assistant cheering coach; Cathie Thomas as high school assistant volleyball coach; and Eugene Ciciarelli as high school assistant softball coach.

It also approved Mike Ludewig as a volunteer assistant coach for the high school football team; Joe Takacs as a volunteer assistant cheering coach at the high school; and Audrey Wagstaff as a volunteer assistant cheering coach at the junior high school.

The board’s next meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Feb. 19 in the library of the junior-senior high school.

On Thursday, the board agreed to meet at 5 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month except for June, when it will meet on June 25, July, when there will be no meeting; and December, when it will meet on Dec. 10.