YCS round-up: district sets 2026-27 calendar, reaches agreement with Rochester, Bates

The Yelm Community Schools (YCS) Board of Directors had a busy evening during a meeting on Thursday, Feb. 26, as all five members unanimously approved several resolutions relating to the 2026-27 district calendar, an inter-district agreement with Rochester and an agreement with Bates Technical College.

According to YCS Superintendent Chris Woods, Yelm students will begin school on the Wednesday after Labor Day this September. With the district set to begin the 2026-27 school year on Wednesday, Sept. 9, Woods said the school year will conclude on Wednesday, June 16, 2027.

“Wednesday after Labor Day is Sept. 9, this next year — so it’s later,” Woods said. “Some districts, and I’ve mentioned this to you before, were considering starting the week before labor day. We opted to maintain the regular schedule. It’s what our families are used to. Also, that day three count is very important for funding. When we start messing with the start date, for example, if we started the Wednesday before Sept. 2, we may have students gone on Sept. 4, for a four-day weekend.”

Additionally, YCS spring break will span from Monday, April 5, through Friday, April 9. Woods stated that Christmas break will take place in the same time period as it occurred in the 2025-26 school year.

YCS board members unanimously approved the district calendar for the 2026-27 school year.

In a separate resolution, YCS board members approved an inter-district agreement with Rochester School District (RSD).
According to Woods, the agreement between YCS and RSD pertains to a specific student who was previously enrolled in Yelm.

“Rochester, being a much smaller school district, reached out to us and asked if we’d be willing to continue serving this student because we have a program that meets the student’s specific needs. Rochester does not,” Woods said. “What that means is they pay us to serve this student and they make sure that there’s no additional cost to our district to serve this student.”

Woods added if the agreement doesn’t work out, for whatever reason, the partnership could be terminated “at any time.” He noted that RSD is ultimately the district that’s responsible and liable for ensuring the student’s individualized education program (IEP) is met.

“Given the fact we’re familiar with this student, we agreed to that and made sure they were covering all costs associated with it,” Woods said.

The final resolution approved by the YCS Board of Directors was an agreement with Bates Technical College.

Woods said the resolution regarding YCS and the Tacoma-based technical school is an annual agreement that allows Yelm students to participate in Bates-based programs like transportation, trades, health and human services, business, IT and creative arts.

The YCS Board of Directors unanimously approved the agreement between the district and Bates Technical College.