At the first school board meeting of 2023, trustees voted 6-0—with Trustee Natasha McDaniel absent—in favor of approving calendar Option A. This option was recommended by the district after 72% of about 7,500 community members, students and staff selected the calendar in a survey published in December.
SISD leaders proposed two calendar options for the upcoming 2023-24 school year Dec. 6. Option A places the first day of school for students Aug. 10 and the last day of school for students May 31. Option B would have pushed the first day of school to Aug. 15 but moved the last day of school forward to May 30.
Option A gives students a week off from Oct. 9-13, while Option B only designated a holiday for Oct. 9.
The calendar follows state requirements that the school day be made up of 440 instructional minutes—or a little more than 7 hours—and 174 days in the school year, according to a Jan. 11 news release from the district.
By comparison, the district’s 2022-23 academic calendar has later start and end dates than the two calendars proposed for the 2023-24 school year. This year, students began the school year Aug. 16 and will finish June 1.
Bilingual stipends
Also during the board’s Jan. 10 meeting, trustees decided to table a decision on whether to grant SISD administrators a $5,500 stipend per person for speaking fluent Spanish.
This proposal was initially presented Jan. 5, but trustees asked that their vote on the topic be pushed to the Jan. 10 meeting so the district could provide more information on the total financial impact the stipend would have.
“We have asked the administration to take a deeper dive and a deeper look into the proposal ... and to bring that back to the board at a future date,” board President Justine Durant said Jan. 10.
Under the district’s current policy, bilingual teachers receive a $5,500 stipend, but they would lose the money if they are promoted to an administrator position, said Julie Hill, the district's chief of human resources and human capital accountability, on Jan. 5.
The district expects 18 administrators to qualify for the stipend. If approved, this stipend would impact the 2023-24 budget, general counsel Jeremy Binkley said Jan. 5.
Joining the team
During the board’s Jan. 5 workshop, the SISD officials also introduced the new head of its communications department, Shane Strubhart.
Strubhart has worked in education for 22 years as a teacher and administrator, he said. Before coming to SISD, he worked as the associate superintendent for community engagement and workforce development for Harlingen CISD.
“I truly do feel like I've joined a new family,” Strubhart said. “And so I'm truly blessed to be here.”
