HERMANN – Thanks to a quirk in the state’s scheduling provisions for the next school year, students in Gasconade County R-1 School District will have a slightly longer summer vacation. But they’ll also be waiting a few more days to begin their next summer vacation.

Under a new calendar adopted last week by the R-1 Board of Directors, the 2026-27 school year will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 25 — about a week later than in recent years. The last day of class will be Wednesday, May 26, 2027, which also will be the last day of the fourth quarter. The Class of ‘27 is scheduled to be graduated on May 20.

Superintendent Geoff Neill told the board that the calendar is subject to change if state education officials decide to grant relief to districts and allow an earlier start date.

In other matters taken up at Thursday night’s regular monthly session of the R-1 board, approval was given for several proposed changes to the class roster. New classes for the coming fall semester will include Local History, which will explore the rich history of the Hermann community; Ag Communication, which is designed to prepare students to be effective leaders and communicators in the agriculture industry; Lifestyle Wellness, a physical education course designed to promote lifelong physical activity and overall well being through participation in walking and other low-intensity activities.

Other changes include allowing sophomores to take holocaust and genocide, psychology, sociology and world history through film with the teachers’ permission. Also, in the upcoming school, year juniors and seniors must have teacher permission to take woodworking class.

The board also approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Miranda Fredrick, a licensed clinical social worker, for school-based counseling services. Fredrick is a counselor in the Washington practice operated by retiring R-1 Director Ashley Kopp. The agreement will allow Fredrick to provide services to eligible students in support of their emotional well being, safety and academic success, administration officials said. The services will be provided with parental or guardian consent and the students’ assent where applicable.

The counselor directly will bill insurance companies, private payers or other funding sources for the services. The agreement noted that R-1 will not be financially responsible for the services unless otherwise agreed to in writing. The agreement will run from Jan. 9 of this year through Dec. 31.

Meanwhile, the eighth-grade students will have their Freshman Orientation Night on Friday, March 13, at 6 in the high school commons. As of this month’s report from the school, the eighth-grade class has 65 students — the largest of all of this year’s middle school grades.

High school counselor Alyssa Roche will present information about the move this fall to HHS to the eighth-grade students and parents, who will be given a tour of the high school and take part in a walk-through of the registration process, the Individual Career and Academic Plan Program and the A+ Program.

Roche later will be talking with the eighth-graders in their classrooms about high school class options.

The board also approved a cooperative agreement with New Haven School District that would allow New Haven High School girls to be members of the Lady Bearcats softball team. “This is becoming more and more common” among school districts, said the superintendent of the cooperative agreement, which reflects the difficulty of some schools being able to field sports teams.