College Station ISD school board approves adding ten minutes to the end of the school day

This podcast contains comments from the May 20, 2025 College Station ISD school board meeting.The College Station ISD school board decides to add ten minutes to the end of the school day starting this August.The six to one vote at Tuesday's meeting (May 20) followed more than 35 minutes of comments about the timing of the decision and the potential impact on elementary school students.The reason for the additional time is to align the class periods at Consolidated and College Station High Schools in order for students from both campuses to take classes when phase two of CSISD's career and technical education center opens in August of 2026.As for the impact on CSISD elementary campuses, the board majority said it will be up to administrators and teachers to decide what's best for their students.The additional ten minutes per class day works out to four more days during the academic year. Superintendent Tim Harkrider said teachers will have those four additional days for planning and workdays. Harkrider also said teachers will continue to work on a 187 day contract.Click HERE to read and download the new 2025-2026 calendar that was approved at the May 20, 2025 College Station ISD school board meeting.Click HERE to read and download the memo associated with the new calendar that was approved at the May 20, 2025 College Station ISD school board meeting.News release from College Station ISD:The College Station ISD Board of Trustees approved an amended academic calendar for the 2025-26 school year during its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 20.The updated calendar converts four regular instructional days to teacher workdays/student holidays:Aug. 29, 2025Nov. 21, 2025March 6, 2026April 2, 2026These days were originally regular school days in the approved 2025-26 calendar.The district is able to designate these days as teacher workdays/student holidays by adding 10 minutes to the end of each school day.The addition of 10 minutes per school day provides an extra 1,750 instructional minutes, or the equivalent of 3.97 days, bringing the total number of instructional minutes to 77,350, well above the TEA-required 75,600.The adjustment to the school day allows for A&M Consolidated High School and College Station High School to align bell schedules to maximize student access to the district’s Career and Technical Education Center.Updated school end times for the 2025-26 school year are as follows:Elementary School: 7:40 a.m. – 3:15 p.m.Intermediate School: 8:25 a.m. – 4 p.m.Middle School: 8:25 a.m. – 4 p.m.High School: 8:25 a.m. – 4 p.m.