Houston ISD managers adopted an extended 2024-25 school year calendar that begins more than two weeks earlier than the 2023-24 school year during the board's Feb. 8 meeting.

The overview

Under the calendar, HISD’s 2024-25 school year will include 180 instructional days beginning Aug. 12 and ending June 4.

The approved calendar is coming after board managers voted to designate HISD as a District of Innovation in December, which allows the district to begin its school year earlier and incorporate more instructional days.

A closer look


HISD officials noted the calendar was created using feedback from more than 4,000 community members.

According to the calendar, the district would have two weeklong breaks and one two-week break, including:
  • Thanksgiving break, Nov. 25-29
  • Winter holiday, Dec. 23-Jan. 3
  • Spring break, March 10-14
The calendar also includes seven holidays for students and staff members during the school year, including:
  • Labor Day, Sept. 2
  • Fall holiday, Oct. 4
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 20
  • President's Day, Feb. 17
  • Chavez Huerta Day, March 31
  • Spring holiday, April 18
  • Memorial Day, May 26
Additionally, no classes will be held for students during the school year on the following professional staff development days:
  • Sept. 3
  • Oct. 3
  • Nov. 8
  • Jan. 6
  • Feb. 14
  • May 2
Students attending summer school will be scheduled to attend from June 16-July 23, with a holiday for Juneteenth on June 19.

Officials noted the calendar sets aside June 6-12 for possible makeup days.

What they're saying


Superintendent Mike Miles—who was appointed by the TEA in June to help improve the district’s accountability ratings and board governance—has previously said schools within the district need 180-185 days of instruction to improve test scores. To account for the additional workdays, Miles said the district will implement a new compensation package for district employees. However, further details concerning what that package will look like have not yet been provided.

Daniel Santos, vice president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, questioned why the district has not yet outlined how teachers would be compensated for additional work days.

"The proposed academic calendar, just like the [New Education System] experiment, reeks of contempt and mendacity of cruelty—contempt for teachers where they would not be compensated for any extra days.” Santos said. “The expansion of the calendar ... is based on the cruel lie that this so-called high-performance culture results in better outcomes.”