HOUSTON — The next school year will be longer by about two weeks for Houston ISD families.
On Thursday, the Board of Managers approved adding eight more instructional days to the 2024-2025 academic school year calendar. The first day of classes for the 2024-2025 school year will begin on Aug. 12, 2024. The last day of school for students will be June 4, 2025.
The calendar also includes a week off during Thanksgiving, a two-week winter break and a week-long spring break. There are also holidays and professional development days.
The district said because of the earlier start date, HISD will provide students with more than a week of additional instruction before important spring assessments including, STAAR, AP and IB exams.
“We know that the school calendar impacts the lives of many families so I am glad that HISD implemented a process this year that allowed for significant input from the community,” said HISD Board President Audrey Momanaee. “We want to thank those who shared their thoughts and comments with us as they were instrumental in the process. This approved calendar reflects the District’s effort to ensure students have the learning time they need while balancing the needs of our diverse community.”
The Houston Federation of Teachers, which is the local teacher's union, said its biggest concern is how educators will be compensated for a longer school year.
“There hasn't been anything announced formally, a plan that's set in stone," said Corina Ortiz with the Houston Federation of Teachers. "They seem to always do things backward and forward."
Summer school is also top of mind for the federation since summers would be shortened for teachers.
“Last year when the NES program was announced by him, the NEA, as teachers just in those selected indicated schools, had to return two weeks earlier than everybody else,” said Ortiz.
Summer would also be shortened for students, which Ortiz says raises more concerns.
“Some of these kids, you know, their families decide to take vacation in early August, and so that's a problem because when you start talking about these kids coming back to school early, you're talking about the money that we're receiving from the state for the attendance for these kids.
The Houston Federation of Teachers believes a longer school year could present more problems down the line and said it wished it were able to have more input on the longer school year calendar.