The Humble ISD board of trustees approved a new school calendar for the 2019-20 school year at the Feb. 12 meeting. Unlike previous calendars, it features five-day holidays in both October and February. At the meeting, HISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen said community members have been requesting for more than two years the district implement an earlier start date. Then in August, the district amended its District of Innovation plan, granting the district more flexibility when instating its school calendar. District officials estimate the new calendar will add $100,000 to the next budget—as HISD intends to increase the stipend for middle school coaches who are hourly employees by $50,000 to make up for decreased working hours, as well as pay a maximum of $66,000 to fund additional transportation costs for the district “I think that [$100,000 budget increase] may hold us back from a teacher position, some safety resource officers in the budget next year, so that’s a definite concern of mine,” trustee Colin Carney said. The 2019-20 calendar passed 4-2, with trustees Angela Conrad, Nancy Morrison, Robert Sitton and Martina Lemond Dixon voting for it and Carney and trustee Charles Cunningham voting against.