The Georgetown ISD board of trustees adopted the school year calendars for 2020-21 and 2021-22 on Feb 18.
The 2020-21 calendar has classes beginning Aug. 20 and ending May 28, 2021. This includes weeklong breaks for Thanksgiving and spring break and a two-week winter break. Spring break will be March 15-19. Students will be in class 172 days.
The 2021-22 calendar has classes beginning Aug. 19, 2021, and ending May 27, 2022. This calendar also includes weeklong breaks for Thanksgiving and spring break and a two-week winter break. Spring break will be March 14-18. Students will be in class 178 days.
Bryan Hallmark, GISD assistant superintendent of operations and school leadership, said after receiving community feedback, the district decided to start school later in August than previously. In the 2019-20 school year, classes began Aug. 15, he said.
The district also reduced six half days to three after hearing difficulties in parent pickup, he added.
This is the first time the district has adopted two calendars at one time after receiving parent feedback on their ability to plan vacations and secure caretaking, Hallmark said.
Hallmark added that if changes were needed to be made in the future such as spring breaks not lining up with university calendars, the district can send it through its approval process again. Next year, the board will adopt a calendar two years in advance and so forth as long as it works, he said.
"A lot of the thought behind [adopting a two-year calendar] was that in the business world it is so much easier when you can plan out for vacations and get an idea of when kids are in school," Hallmark said. "Just planning is easier in general."
Take a look at the calendars below:
