During its meeting on January 22, the Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD) board of trustees unanimously gave their nod to the instructional calendar for the 2024-25 school year.
Key Points
According to information outlined in the agenda packet from the January 22 meeting, the 2024-25 instructional calendar features:
- A minimum of 75,600 operational minutes, with at least 840 minutes allocated for inclement weather or other unforeseen issues.
- An increase in daily instructional minutes by five minutes.
- A traditional holiday structure, including a week off for Thanksgiving, two weeks off for winter break, and a week off for spring break.
- Two designated inclement weather days.
The addition of five instructional minutes per day prompted the district to adjust its bell schedule. The revised schedule is as follows:
- Elementary level:
- Start time: 8 a.m.
- End time: 3:20 p.m.
- Middle level:
- Start time: 8:50 a.m.
- End time: 4:10 p.m.
- High school level:
- Start time: 7:30 a.m.
- End time: 2:50 p.m.
Zooming In on Details
The approved draft indicates that the 2024-25 school year will commence on August 8, 2024, and conclude on May 29, 2025. The holiday schedule encompasses various dates, including breaks in September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April, and May.
Board Member Concerns
During the discussion, two board members raised concerns about the number of holidays integrated into the calendar and the addition of five extra instructional minutes.
Trustee Angie Hanan expressed reservations about the impact of the extra five minutes, stating, “I don’t think the five minutes per day is going to make a great impact on our students… I am going to support the calendar as presented, and I do it with trepidation.”
Board President Judy Dae shared concerns about both the extra instructional time and the numerous holidays, stating, “The two concerns I have for this calendar is really the five minutes [of] extra time plus the holidays we have in October. That’s a lot of holidays.”
In response, FBISD Director of Strategic Communications Sherry Williams explained that the calendar committee, comprising community members, trustees, teachers, students, and district leaders, establishes guidelines based on feedback from stakeholders in the district.
