North Alabama district wants its students to get an early start next year – as early as July.

The Limestone County School Board voted Tuesday evening to approve the calendar for the 2025-26 school year, which expands the winter break in exchange for a slightly shorter summer. Students will start classes July 31, 2025 and end on May 21, 2026. Local teachers will return to work on July 25 next summer.

Limestone’s 2026-27 calendar, also approved Tuesday, will send students back on Aug. 6, 2026, and end classes on May 27, 2027.

The announcement sparked a firestorm on social media. Some commenters said the shift would be good for teachers, who would have more breaks throughout the school year, and noted that the date wasn’t far off from this year’s Aug. 2 opening. Others worried about conflicts with vacations and sports programs and the impact on students.

“We are swarmed with work and this starts to take a mental toll on us,” one student wrote on the district’s Facebook post. “A lot of us look up to summer break as it allows us to slow down and relax. Completely ridiculous and unnecessary.”

Summer breaks in Alabama have been shrinking, as schools opt for more work days and intermittent breaks throughout the school year. In recent years, lawmakers have tried, and failed, to regulate school calendars.

Most Alabama schools typically start classes on the first or second week of August. All schools must provide at least 180 days of instruction.

Magic City Acceptance Academy, a charter school in Birmingham, started classes July 31 this year, but no traditional public systems started earlier than Aug. 1.

Other nearby districts, like Madison City and Huntsville, opted recently to shorten Thanksgiving break to avoid an earlier start.