The Connecticut state Board of Educa­tion has approved common school calendars that will eventually synchronize start dates, vacations and teacher training days in districts across the state.Lawmakers in 2013 approved a law requiring that districts across the state, di­vided into six groups, adopt common calendars. It was meant to allow districts, with matching schedules, to group together to save money on things like bus contracts and teacher training.Connecticuts districts are already grouped together into six regional education service centers for teacher training, minority staff recruitment, human service assistance and other collaborative purposes. The state law requires districts in each RESC to adopt a com­mon calendar.

The law requires the RESCs to develop uniform calendars for the coming school year, but districts don’t have to adopt these cal­endars until the 2015-16. And if existing contracts conflict with that calendar, the districts can push off adoption until the 2016-17 school year.Under the calendars adopt­ed by the state Board of Edu­cation, schools statewide would open Aug. 27, have a common spring vacation and have students out of school for Election Day, allowing for professional development. Districts would be able to determine their own closing dates.