Calendar FAQ

In spring 2006 the state legislature passed legislation in House Bill 1, that Texas schools cannot begin classes before the fourth Monday in August, with no provisions for a waiver. Unless the Legislature makes any changes during its Spring 2009 session, the start date for 2009 will be Monday, August 24. For 2010 it will be Monday, August 25.

2. What is the process the District will use to determine the 2009-2010 and 2010/2011 calendars?

To establish the next two academic calendars, school board trustees issued a resolution to establish a Calendar Committee comprised of staff and community members (a representative from each elementary school zone), and charge the group to develop and propose an educationally sound two-year school calendar. The Calendar Committee will use a set of parameters and a resolution developed by the school board to guide the work of developing a recommendation to the Superintendent.

The Calendar Committee will also consider community and campus staff input during the development process. The Calendar Committee, comprised of representatives from Pre-K, Elementary, Middle and High Schools, parents from various quadrants of the District, and administrators, will meet four develop two sample calendars for each academic school year (09/10 and 10/11).

The proposed calendars will be posted on the District website from October 15-31, 2008, where staff and community members can indicate their preferences and comment.

A community forum will be held on October 28, 2008 (5-6 p.m. in Room 275 of the Administration Bldg.) to review the calendar samples and take input.

The committee will consider input from the web-posted input and the Community Forum to finalize one calendar for each school year to present to the Superintendent by November 2008. The Superintendent will consider the committee’s recommendations and present a finalized—and edited if necessary—calendar to the Board of Trustees in December 2008.

3. How many days must children attend school?

The state requires 180 days of attendance, but districts may apply for waivers down to a minimum of 175 days to use for staff development purposes. In 2008/2009, SBISD has 178 days of instruction as adopted by the Board of Trustees.

4. How many days are teachers required to be in attendance?

State law requires teachers to be on duty for a minimum of 187 days. SBISD teachers are currently on duty 188 days. SBISD strongly supports the professional growth of its teachers in order to remain proficient on state curriculum requirements, share and learn new teaching techniques, and to have time to plan in subject matter teams. Therefore, in the 2008-2009 calendar, by a waiver to the State, two instructional days are currently exchanged for professional development, along with eight other staff development and planning days spread throughout the school year for a total of 10 staff development days.

Teacher Work/Planning Days August 14 & 22, 2008

June 4, 2008

Teacher Staff Dev. Days Aug. 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 2008

January 5 & 19 (flex day), 2009

5. Why are there professional development days for teachers?

Before school starts, teachers need time to develop their instructional plan for the year, and to work with grade level or content peers. During the school year, occasional staff development days are needed to assess how students are doing with the instructional plan, and to make adjustments where needed. Also, teachers need time to absorb new instructional techniques, and immediately apply the knowledge learned back in their classrooms.

In the 2008-2009 calendar, teachers had five professional development and two workdays prior to the start of school. There are two professional development days scheduled during the school year, and one workday following the last day of school.

6. Could teachers take professional development classes during the summer?

Many teachers do take professional development classes during the summer. SBISD offered more than 110 training classes for its teachers in summer 2008, and many teachers use the summer to take university courses to further their credentials. It is also important to schedule training days inside the school year so teachers can immediately apply new teaching strategies in the classroom and for remediation of struggling students.

Scheduling mandatory staff development during the summer would interrupt teachers’ college course work, work study trips, and supplemental jobs. SBISD teachers are required by Board policy to earn 12 non-contract staff development hours each school year, so hours earned during the summer months can count toward that requirement.

7. Why do summer vacations seem shorter than when many of us attended school?

Summer vacations are shorter because students are now required to attend school more days of the year. From 1977 to 1991, students were only required to have 175 days of instruction. In 2008-2009, SBISD students attended school 178 days.

8. What happens when school ends later than Memorial Day?

Given the mandated late August start date, and the District’s desire to maximize instructional days, finishing school prior to Memorial Day weekend is not possible with the traditional length Thanksgiving, Winter and Spring breaks (see Question 14 below for more details). Ending school after Memorial Day compromises the number of instructional days prior to early-May Advanced Placement (AP) tests for secondary students. A student can earn college credits towards a degree by passing an AP test, as well as passing Dual Credit classes, at costs lower than traditional college tuition fees. In addition, by starting college with some credits already earned, students and their families will have to pay college tuition rates for a shorter period of time.

The late August start date and June end date has an impact on students’ preparation for Advanced Placement (AP) Tests. Since these tests are given at dates pre-determined by the College Board (generally early May), a later school start date in August results in less time available for instruction before the exams, possibly compromising the ability to get a passing score.

Ending school after Memorial Day can affect both graduating students and teachers needing to begin summer school at colleges and universities, many of which begin the week after Memorial Day. Additionally a later end date affects the ability of SBISD students and teachers to get and begin summer jobs.

9. How will the district receive public input into the calendar development process?

Members of the public and District staff members may send email comments to Calendar@springbranchisd.com, which will be categorized and given to the Calendar Committee for review. Two calendar choices for the 09/10 and 10/11 school years will be posted on the District website, giving staff and parents the opportunity to select which of the choices they prefer, and also post a comment.

There will be a Public Forum held on Oct. 28, 2008 from 5-6 p.m. in Room 275 at the Administration Building. The Calendar Committee will be present at the Forum, and will hear public input prior to finalizing recommendations for the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 calendars to the Superintendent.

10. Has the district ever begun school after Labor Day?

Records going back 39 school years indicate SBISD has begun school the second or third week of school most years except for six years (including 07/08) when the start date was during the fourth week, and six years when the start day was after August 31. In the years that began school after August 31, the school end date was the first Thursday or Friday in June, but there were also fewer mandated days of school.

11. What is the history of school start dates in SBISD?

Year	Start Date	# of In-struc-tional days	Last day before winter break	Last day of first semes-ter	# of first semes-ter days	# of second semes-ter days	School End Date	Thanks-giving	# of SD days	# of teacher prep days
1969	2-Sep	176	Dec. 19	Jan. 16	86	90	28-May	Thurs-Fri	6
1970	24-Aug	180	Dec. 18	Jan. 14	90	90	27-May	Thurs-Fri	10
1971	23-Aug	180	Dec. 17	Dec. 17	80	100	31-May	Thurs-Fri	10
1972	21-Aug	180	Dec. 20	Dec. 20	83	97	25-May	Thurs-Fri	10
1973	20-Aug	180	Dec. 20	Dec. 20	83	97	29-May	Thurs-Fri	10
1974	19-Aug	180	Dec. 18	Dec. 18	82	98	28-May	Thurs-Fri	10
1975	25-Aug	180	3 quarters: 62, 61, 57 days				28-May	Thurs-Fri	10
1976	23-Aug	180	3 quarters: 57, 61, 62 days + summer school 24 days				1-Jun	Thurs-Fri	10
1977	23-Aug	175	3 quarters: 57, 60, 58 days + summer school 24 days				25-May	Thurs-Fri	10
1978	28-Aug	175	3 quarters: 56, 62, 57 days + summer school 24 days				25-May	Thurs-Fri	8
1979	27-Aug	175	Dec. 19	Dec. 19	82	93	29-May	Wed-Fri + Following Monday	8
1980	19-Aug	175	3 quarters: 59, 59, 57 days				27-May	Wed-Fri + Following Monday	8

Year	Start Date	# of In-struc-tional days	Last day before winter break	Last day of first semes-ter	# of first semes-ter days	# of second semes-ter days	School end date	Thanks-giving	# of staff dev. days	# of teacher prep days
1981	18-Aug	175	Dec. 18	Dec. 18	82	93	25-May	Wed- Fri	8
1982	17-Aug	175	Dec. 17	Dec. 17	82	93	24-May	Wed- Fri	8
1983	17-Aug	175	Dec. 20	Dec. 20	83	92	22-May	Wed-Fri	9
1984	20-Aug	175	Dec. 19	Dec. 19	82	93	23-May	Wed-Fri	8
1985	3-Sep	177	Dec. 20	Jan. 23	89	88	5-Jun	Wed-Fri	8
1986	2-Sep	175	Dec. 19	Jan. 22	89	86	5-Jun	Wed-Fri	8
1987	1-Sep	175	Dec. 18	Jan. 21	88	87	2-Jun	Wed-Fri	4	4
1988	1-Sep	175	Dec. 20	Jan. 20	88	87	1-Jun	Wed-Fri	8
1989	5-Sep	175	Dec. 15	Jan. 26	89	86	7-Jun	Wed-Fri	8
1990	27-Aug	175	Dec. 19	Jan. 11	86	89	24-May	Wed-Fri	8
1991	22-Aug	180	Dec. 20	Jan. 17	93	87	29-May	Wed-Fri	0	3
1993	18-Aug	175	Dec. 17	Jan. 14	90	85	26-May	Wed-Fri	5	2.5
1994	18-Aug	175	Dec. 15	Dec., 15	81	94	25-May	Wed-Fri	5	2.5
1995	16-Aug	175	Dec. 14	Dec. 14	82	93	23-May	Wed-Fri	5	3
1996	14-Aug	177	Dec. 20	Dec. 20	88	89	22-May	Wed-Fri	5	2
1997	13-Aug	177	Dec. 19	Dec. 19	88	89	21-May	Wed-Fri	4	2
1998	12-Aug	177	Dec. 18	Dec. 18	88	89	20-May	Wed-Fri	7	3
1999	13-Aug	180	Dec. 17	Jan. 14	91	89	2-Jun	Mon-Fri	7	3
2000	14-Aug	180	Dec. 19	Dec. 19	87	93	25-May	Wed-Fri	7	3
2001	15-Aug	180	Dec. 19	Dec. 19	87	93	24-May	Wed-Fri	7	3
2002	19-Aug	180	Dec. 20	Dec. 20	85	95	30-May	Wed-Fri	6	3
2003	14-Aug	180	Dec. 19	Dec. 19	86	94	28-May	Wed-Fri	6	3
2004	12-Aug	178	Dec. 17	Dec. 17	84	94	27-May	Mon-Fri	7	3
2005	11-Aug	178	Dec. 16	Dec. 16	84	94	26-May	Mon-Fri	7	3
2006	16-Aug	178	Dec. 15	Dec. 15	83	95	24-May	Wed-Fri	6	4

Year	Start Date	# of In-struc-tional days	Last day before winter break	Last day of first semes-ter	# of first semes-ter days	# of second semes-ter days	School end date	Thanks-giving	# of staff dev. days	# of teacher prep days
2007	27-Aug	178	Dec. 21	Dec. 21	81	97	May 23/29	Wed-Fri	6	4
2008	25-Aug	178	Dec. 19	Dec. 19	80	98	May 29 June 4	Wed-Fri	7	3

12. Can there be a difference in the number of days per semester?

Yes, there can. However, efforts are made to “balance” the number of instructional days each semester to accommodate secondary courses offered on a semester basis. All TAKS testing days are scheduled in the second semester, so these are subtracted from the actual number of instructional days per semester. An increase of eight to ten days in the second semester over first semester would effectively “balance” the semesters’ number of instructional days.

Other than balancing the semesters to accommodate testing dates, semesters should not be drastically different in length, because some semester courses would be covering more information than others though students they are tested on the same material. However, with the later start date mandated by the Legislature, and the preference for having finals before Winter Break, the semesters are not currently well balanced. See Question #15 below for more information.

SBISD high school students have options to participate in more rigorous Dual Credit courses on a semester basis in cooperation with Houston Community College, whereby they earn college credit for certain designated classes for a small tuition fee. Since the classes are conducted on a semester basis in alignment with the community college schedule, finals must occur prior to Winter Break. However, if the SBISD first semester was not scheduled to end until January in order to balance the semesters, Dual Credit finals would take place prior to the end of first semester, thus compromising the amount of instructional time completed prior to Dual Credit testing.

13. Do bad weather days affect the calendar?

By state law, the district must provide for two bad weather days in the second semester. Should weather conditions postpone instructional day(s), the day(s) would be made up by attending school on the designated bad weather day(s).

In the 2008-2009 calendar, there are four bad weather days identified.

14. How do graduation and college schedules affect the calendar?

The ability of students and teachers to attend college during summer semesters is a consideration. Many colleges’ summer sessions begin in late May during the week following Memorial Day. Many graduating students wnat to, or are required to, complete some college work prior to entering a university in the fall semester; and teachers who need or wish to take college courses during the summer often like to take the first summer session to enable them to have a break later in the summer. College summer school courses are densely packed into a five-week schedule. Missing one day is like missing a week of class since so much material is covered each time the class meets.

However, most colleges and universities do offer two summer school sessions, and those wishing to take college courses during the summer could consider attending during the second session.

Some students conclude their high school requirements mid-year. Their intent is to begin college in January. By concluding the first semester after winter break, these students would more likely have to wait until summer or the following fall to enter college. Additionally, some colleges require a transcript with first semester grades by early February prior to a student being selected for admission. If first semester does not end until mid-January, this might be a problem.

15. How does the testing schedule impact the calendar?

Most students have five to eight testing days in the Spring semester. In order to balance the number of instructional days in each semester, eight days are usually subtracted from the second semester total to see how it aligns with the total number of instructional days in the first semester. For example, in the 2008-2009 calendar, there are 80 students days in the first semester, and 98 in the second semester. By subtracting eight testing-days from 98, there are about 90 instructional days in the second semester. There is a 10-instructional-day difference between the two semesters, which is not ideal, particularly for classes that are only one semester long. Students taking the same class second semester will have approximately ten more instructional days in class, which could make comparisons between first and second semester grade unequal.

16. How do holidays affect the school calendar?

Traditionally the following are the holidays the district has traditionally observes with time off from school and work. With the late August start date, the holidays listed in bold will be student holidays during the 2008-2009 school year.

17. How do energy costs affect the school calendar?

The months that are affected by the start of school date change are May – September, as follows:

· An earlier start in August means

o Buildings open and air conditioning starts up in late July for back to school preparations

o Building AC is run longer in August for back to school nights, parent meetings, registration etc.

o School runs till the last week of May, and summer schedule takes effect right after Memorial day

o This earlier-start option is not currently available to districts in the State due to the legislative mandate described in Question #1.

· A late start in August means

o Back to school preparations start in August, allowing the summer schedule to run the entire month of July

o Building AC is run longer in late August and first week of September for back to school nights etc

o School runs through the first week of June, delaying summer energy schedule onset

SBISD has had a very strong energy management drive since the Energy Policy was passed by the board in May 2006. Consequently, we cannot attribute 100% of the savings that are shown over the past two years to the later start. However, it is reasonable to assume that some savings will result from a later start after reviewing the average High temperatures recorded for the Houston area during the five months, May-Sept. Limiting the use of air conditioning during the two hottest months should result in some savings. We may have a better idea on how to quantify the savings once the August and September 2008 bills are received. Whether these savings are large enough to compensate for the inconveniences caused by starting school later is open to discussion.

18. Do the calendars of surrounding districts affect SBISD?

Each district develops its calendar independently and on different timelines.

Efforts are made to coordinate proposed dates with surrounding districts in order to be sensitive to the needs of SBISD employees whose children attend school in other districts. A study of the home locations of SBISD employees by zip code revealed:

Where SBISD Employees Live
District	# of employees	% of all employees
SBISD	1744	38.33%
HISD	934	20.53%
Cy Fair	632	13.89%
Katy	552	12.13%
Alief	130	2.86%

Continued…
A study of the start dates and holidays of key surrounding districts for the 2008-2009 calendar shows:

District	School Start Date	School End Date	Instruc-tional Days	Staff Develop-ment Days	Teacher Work Days	Total # days teachers on duty	Thanks-giving	Last Day before Winter Break	Spring Break dates
SBISD	Aug. 25	June 3, 2009	178	7	3	188	Nov. 26-28	Dec. 19	Mar. 16-20
HISD	Aug. 25	May 28, 2009	175	5	7	187	Nov. 26-28	Dec. 19	Mar. 16-20
Katy	Aug. 25	June 4, 2009	177	6	4	187	Nov. 26-28	Dec. 19	Mar. 16-20
Cy-Fair	Aug. 25	June 3, 2009	176	10		186	Nov. 26-28	Dec. 19	Mar. 16-20
Alief	Aug. 25	June 4, 2009	177	8		185	Nov. 24-28	Dec. 19	Mar. 16-20

For the past two years, SBISD has spearheaded inter-district discussions to coordinate dates for Spring Break and share creative calendar ideas.

19. Is there evidence to show that students do better on finals when they are after winter break?

There are multiple factors that affect academic achievement, but there is no direct evidence that the calendar is a determining factor. It is likely the December absenteeism rate would be higher if semester exams were given in January, thus reducing the likelihood of successful finals results due to reduced instructional time.

Teachers report teaching days were lost when final exams were given in January in previous years, because they had to spend significant time reviewing class material prior to testing. Students were more apprehensive about taking the exams then, thus reducing satisfactory results.

20. How does concluding the first semester prior to winter break affect absenteeism?

Concluding the first semester prior to the winter break reduces absenteeism because most students are not allowed to take final exams early unless there is an emergency, and they do not want to take make up exams after the break. Therefore, students come to school the week before winter break in order to complete finals, causing attendance figures to be higher.

21. Is the absenteeism rate affected by students who enroll after the school start date?

The absenteeism rate is not affected until students enroll. There is a constant increase in enrollment during the first month of school. In Fall 2006, enrollment increased by 5.05% from the first day of school when all students were counted (August 17) through September 12. Also the data does not indicate that there is a significant enrollment jump after Labor Day (See chart in #22).

22. Does enrollment spike after Labor Day?

Data from 2006 can be compared. From the Friday before Labor Day to the Friday after the holiday in 2006, there was a 5% increase in enrollment.

	Fall 2007 School Start Enrollment data
	Date	High	Middle	Elem	Pre K Centers	Total Enrollment
Day 1	8/27/2007	8227	6266	14507	0	29000
Day 2	8/28/2007	8416	6328	14898	1165	29642
Day 3	8/29/2007	8541	6429	15050	1203	30020
Day 4	8/30/2007	8612	6466	15143	1231	30221
Day 5	8/31/2007	8654	6395	15205	1244	30254	Pre-Labor Day
Day 6	9/4/2007	8704	6505	15261	1257	30470	Post-Labor Day
Day 7	9/5/2007	8704	6505	15261	1257	30470
Day 8	9/6/2007	8761	6507	15283	1263	30551
Day 9	9/7/2007	8745	6526	15305	1271	30576

23. How much does student absenteeism cost the district?

Every day an enrolled student is absent in a 178 instructional day calendar, costs about $25 in lost revenue from the State. Multiply that times the number of students absent each day for all 178 days and the financial impact becomes significant. For example: If 6% of students, or roughly 1905 students, are out on a single day the District loses about $48,000.

24. Is the start date influenced by football and extra-curriculars?

No. The University Interscholastic League (UIL) sets the start date for football practices for all districts. Band can start whenever the band director wishes, usually determined by the date of the first football game (which is also regulated by UIL and not affected by school start date.). Currently, Volleyball and Football practices start in early August. UIL has not yet made any provisions to adjust this schedule in light of the later August start date mandated by the Legislature (see question # 1 above).

25. Does the final exam schedule affect only 25% of students in SBISD?

No. There are approximately 15,000 secondary students in SBISD who are affected by final exams schedules. There are also about 15,000 elementary students.

26. How does SBISD’s calendar compare academically to other districts?

In the 2007/2008 school year, SBISD’s students will attend school 178 days. HISD has 175 instructional days, and Katy and Cy-Fair students attend school 177 days (see the chart in Question 18 above).

2008-2009 Calendar Steering Committee