Major takeaways
A draft calendar was presented to EISD's District Leadership Team in September, and community input from families and stakeholders was gathered throughout the following month, said Molly May, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning.
Key dates include:
- Aug. 13: first day of school
- Sept. 7: Labor Day
- Nov. 23-27: Thanksgiving break
- Dec. 21-Jan. 4: winter break
- Jan. 18: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- March 15-19: spring break
- May 21: last day of school
There are also several early release days on Wednesdays for K-12, including Sept. 16, Dec. 9, Jan. 27 and March 3, and an early release day on Friday, Oct. 30, for 6-12.
These days allow for teacher planning periods, May said.
"We are getting a lot of really good feedback from our teachers about how meaningful those are," May said. "When we built in this time, we get [that] now some parents have to leave early on a Wednesday to come pick up their kids, or now their kids are off more days than they were before. I have heard zero complaints from the community, and that shows how much our community respects our teachers and understands how hard they work and that this time is crucial."
What's changed?
EISD typically has its first day of school on a Wednesday, but the Aug. 13 start date allows for teachers to have eight days of planning time prior to the first day of school, May said.
Per teacher feedback, this also means they will not have to start planning days in July, she said.
"We talked a lot about, 'Is a Thursday start date now going to throw things off, and families are going to say since it's Thursday they're only missing the first two days of school [and] we'll just have them come on Monday?'" May said. "This was the DLT discussion—the first day of school for kids is really important, and it doesn't really matter if its on a Wednesday or Thursday."
The district is required to have a certain number of instructional days each semester, May said, so pushing the first day of school start date to the following Monday would create an imbalance in the calendar.
Something to note
A prior 2026-27 calendar draft included a holiday on March 26 for Good Friday.
"I think people are expecting it, ... and it's what we've always done," trustee John Troy said. "It will cost us some money because some higher than normal staff are going to be out. ... I think it'll end up being divisive, and we don't need to go through that right now."
The adopted calendar does not currently include Good Friday.
"I struggle with having one nonfederal religious holiday and only one," trustee Laura Clark said.
District officials have previously discussed including days off for other religious and cultural events, but this gets "very challenging" when trying to balance semesters as these dates can float from year-to-year, May said.
The DLT recommended EISD only observe federal holidays; however, its care committee will go through these celebrations and make sure they are no-homework nights, May said, which have not yet been determined.
"That is our way of trying to be respectful of all of those different holidays and customs," May said.
