Sormani will soon propose academic calendars for the next two years. To prepare the calendars, Sormani and HISD staff collected responses from more than 2,000 survey participants including parents, faculty and other staff. According to Sormani's presentation, the final calendars combine feedback from parents and staff "to the greatest extent possible".
- The following are highlights from the collected survey responses:
- 65 percent of surveyed parents prefer day off from school to fall on Fridays rather than Mondays.
- 49 percent of surveyed parents prefer school to start in the third week of August rather than the second week of August.
- The majority of surveyed teachers felt that the professional development time set aside in August was not sufficient to prepare their classrooms.
- However, the majority of surveyed teachers felt that the August 2017 professional development time was beneficial.
- 78 percent of surveyed parents prefer a full week off for Thanksgiving break.
Hutto ISD is pursuing a two-year academic calendar in part, according to Sormani, due to convenience and predictability.
