On Feb. 8, 2024, HISD held their monthly Board of Management meeting to address and vote on the new calendar for the 2024-2025 academic year, as a result, we now see the newly implemented calendar in the coming school year.
For context, on Jan. 16, our school was canceled due to inclement weather. This was the day that HISD revealed four variations of the calendar that would be voted on at the upcoming board meeting.
These plans were met with drastic changes compared to the current 2023-2024 plan. Since HISD was named a DOI (District of Innovations) by the state of Texas, the district no longer has to start school from the fourth Monday of Aug. and is free to change their start days, reflective in the variations considering school could’ve potentially started on Aug. 7 for students (and July 29 for teachers). Other variations also included ending school as late as June 6 for students and June 9 for teachers.
Those variations were scrapped, and our current academic dates include students starting school on Aug. 12 (teachers starting on Aug. 1), with the required 180 days of instruction (House Bill 2610) compared to the current 173 instructional days, as well as 33 days off (including religious holidays and extended breaks) compared to the current 31.
One prominent change in the calendar has to do with the athletic schedule. Previously, the start of the school year being later in Aug. gave fall sports the chance to start practices earlier and be in tune with the athletic routine.
Sandy Kong, a junior on varsity volleyball since her freshman year stated, “I honestly think it would be mostly disadvantageous because we would be having to balance schoolwork. Then there’s the shorter time to get to know each other, specifically as players.”
Arguably, teachers needing to slightly change their schedule will feel a burden, especially coaches engaged with seasonal sports.
“My tryout schedule will be probably the most different than it ever has been,” said Coach Scott, coach of the girls’ varsity volleyball team. “You need that summer to recharge and when your summer is cut short, it affects everybody.”
Scott also included the fact that she and other staff members would agree more on the early start date if the standard length of the year meant ending school in May like other private schools.
Additionally, she added that teachers are “working more for the same pay.”
According to an article by Houston Landing, Mike Miles has proposed a ‘competitive compensation package’ for teachers as a result of the longer school year. However, no additional details have been made — which can put teachers at a crossroads with the upcoming year.
There’s no question that these new changes will have significant effects on both students and teachers across the district. Nonetheless, we’ll have to wait to truly see their impact beginning Aug. 12.
