Winter Storm Enzo brought snow, ice and, for students across the Greater Houston region, two days of school closures.
As students and teachers celebrated their first snow day since 2021, it raises the question of whether school districts will need to make up for the days off in late May or June.
The short answer: in all likelihood, they won’t. But here’s more to know about snow days and schools as hundreds of thousands of students stay home this week.
How much time must kids spend in school?
Under state law, Texas school districts don’t have to be open a certain number of days. Rather, public independent school districts and charter schools must provide at least 75,600 “operational minutes,” which include classroom instruction time, recess, lunch and time between classes.
What happens when schools are closed for two days?
Some school districts build additional minutes beyond the required 75,600 into their calendars, so they don’t have to add school days when bad weather hits. Fort Bend ISD, for example, has about 1,000 extra minutes in its calendar, equal to slightly more than two school days.
Other districts use makeup days included in their school calendars. The Texas Education Agency encourages school districts to add two makeup days to their calendar for bad weather or events related to health and safety concerns.
Some districts put both backup plans in their calendars.
Ultimately, it’s not a big issue if schools close for a day or two because they usually build time into their calendars. It’s possible, though, that some districts will use one of their makeup days booked for later this year.
How can I track my district’s approach to bad weather days?
Districts typically don’t report the number of operational minutes on their school calendars, so it’s hard to find how many extra minutes are built into their plans. Check with your school or district leaders for more information on their approach to weather-related closures.
What happens if schools are closed for more than two days?
A school district that closes for multiple days can add days to its calendar to make up for lost time and remain compliant with the 75,600 minutes requirement. Districts also can apply to the TEA for a missed school day waiver if they’ve used up their two makeup days. (The TEA discourages districts from scheduling makeup days on holidays and weekends, because a large majority of students must attend classes those days to get credit for holding school.)
Have schools added days to the end of the calendar after past storms?
Typically, no.
During the May derecho in Houston, school districts affected could apply for the missed school waivers to make up for a third missed day and beyond.
Similarly, during Hurricane Harvey, school districts applied for the waiver for up to four additional days of missed school days in September 2017. Districts approved for the waiver did not have to make up those days on the school calendar.
On occasion, districts have chosen to add several minutes to the beginning or end of the remaining school days in a year, rather than holding extra days of classes in late spring.
What if a school district doesn’t make up for lost time?
If a school district doesn’t follow the school minutes or weather days requirements, they could lose state funding. If a school district reports only 95 percent of the required time, they would only receive 95 percent of state funding.
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