El Camino College will not implement a calendar change for the 2025 to 2026 academic year after concerns about its impact are unresolved.

The college is considering implementing a calendar change for the 2026 to 2027 academic year, which would lengthen Thanksgiving break to a whole week.

“For now, we felt like all the concerns were not addressed, we couldn’t make a big change like that and so we decided not to make a change for next year,” Extended Opportunity Programs and Services counselor Anna Brochet said.

She added there needs to be a consensus regarding Thanksgiving week.

“Let’s say we see these very different iterations and people then want to put information sessions about before folks vote cause we’re also saying it’s such a big change that maybe we need lots of people to vote, like students too,” Brochet said.

Academic Senate President Charlene Brewer-Smith said one of the reasons behind the proposed calendar change was to get a week off in November for Thanksgiving.

“In a lot of cases, K to 12 students are out [of school] and they have kids and now they’re having their kids at home while still trying to come to work or come to class,” Carlos Lopez, Vice President of Academic Affairs said.

Lopez said other colleges have successfully implemented a calendar change.

“Some colleges have shifted over to not being on campus for classes for Thanksgiving week and that just has made everybody’s life easier. So that was where a lot of the genesis of that came from,” Lopez said.

She said a vote was needed for the 2025 to 2026 calendar, as some departments at ECC require the calendar ahead of time.

“Certain departments need our calendar to do some things. They were saying, look if we don’t vote on it today, then these departments will be in trouble,” Brochet said.

Brewer-Smith said when the proposed calendar change for the 2025 to 2026 academic calendar was introduced at the Academic Senate meeting on Sept. 3, most were against the idea.

“It sounded like when we were in the meeting, that they [the Academic Senate] want no, because they feel like it’s going to affect how we grade and it will affect those students who are transferring to different colleges,” Brewer-Smith said.

Brochet said two-thirds of the email messages she received were against the 2025 to 2026 calendar change.

“But some folks emailed me directly with one opinion, other senators gave me a summary of their division,” Brochet said. “Some emails were worth more people.”

Faculty members shared concerns with Brochet about turning in grades.

“The way the calendar works, the faculty has seven days to turn in their grades, the seventh day falls on a holiday, so they would have to turn in their grades in January,” Brochet added.

The proposed change would have added an extra week to the end of the semester, with the final day of the class ending on Dec. 18, 2025.

In addition, there would have been a shortened break between the fall and the winter semester.

The fall semester typically ends during the second week of December.

Brewer-Smith said if the proposed changes were implemented, the duration of the winter semester would not be affected.

Some students at ECC prefer to have the week off for Thanksgiving break, with an emphasis to spend extra time with family.

“I don’t really mind it at all, I think students should have the week off and have that time off to spend time with family,” Gonzalo Mendez, an 18-year-old history major said.

Other students believe having that week off is needed, as students spend most of their time at school.

“I don’t think it’s fair taking a week off from our winter break because honestly, we put in a lot of work here,” Delilah Segura, a 19-year-old nursing major said. “We deserve a week off for Thanksgiving break and we deserve to keep our eight-week winter break.”

Business administration major Chevelle Morrison had mixed feelings about the idea.

“One week off will be cool but I see the issue of having a longer break,” Morrison said. “I would rather have two days because students would need to catch up on homework, projects and studying for their finals.”

Camila Jimenez and Elliott Bullock II contributed to this report.