Austin ISD to add Eid al-Fitr holiday to 2023-24 school year, plus other proposed changes

Austin ISD is set to add an extra holiday to the calendar for the 2023-24 school year if the board of trustees approves the plan at its next meeting.

If approved, the additional holiday will be in recognition of Eid al-Fitr, a worldwide holiday celebrated by Muslims marking the end of a monthlong dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. The holiday would be observed as a staff development and student holiday on Wednesday, April 10, 2024.

Other changes expected to be made to the calendar include:

• changing the Sept. 27-28 parent conference evening to a combined elementary parent conference day/secondary professional development day/student holiday on Monday, Sept. 25. This will also be in recognition of Yom Kippur, said Jacob Reach, chief officer of governmental relations and board services for AISD. Yom Kippur is a holy day in Judaism and is centered on atonement, fasting and repentance;
• removing the Oct. 6, early release day;
• moving the Friday, Oct. 13, staff development/student holiday to Monday, Oct. 9, in recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day;
• moving the Tuesday, Nov. 7, staff development/student holiday to Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, in recognition of Diwali, a religious celebration in Indian religions;
• changing the Feb. 14-15, 2024, parent conference evening to a combined elementary parent conference day/secondary professional development day/student holiday on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024; and
• removing the Feb. 16, 2024, early release day.

Reach said there are no proposed changes to the starting and ending days of school, or for winter break.

"These calendar changes maintain the necessary number of instructional minutes for students and the number of required duty days for teachers, which is 180," Reach said.

The changes would now provide 84 instructional days in the fall and 89 instructional days in the spring, for a total of 173 instructional days. In previous years, there were 82.5 instructional days in the fall and 91 instructional days in the spring. Reach said the proposed changes would add one additional professional day prior to previous years.

The state requirement for instructional minutes per school year is 75,600, Reach said, and these changes would result in 76,900 instructional minutes for district schools and 75,670 for high schools.

Other holidays of note that are nonnegotiable, Reach said, include Culture of Voting Board Policy on Nov. 8; Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 16; Memorial Day on May 29; Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Day on March 31; one week for Thanksgiving break; two weeks for winter break; and the historical alignment of spring break with The University of Texas.

Trustees are expected to vote on these changes at their Jan. 26 meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m. at the administration building, 4000 S. I-35 Frontage Road, Austin.