HOUSTON – Jan. 8, 2016 – The Spring Independent School District has launched a 2016-17 Instructional Calendar Survey online and is asking parents/guardians and employees to select the calendar they prefer out of two options that are available.

Both options would start school on Aug. 22, 2016, however, Option A would end school for students on June 1, 2017 while Option B would end on May 26, 2017. Option A includes one more holiday – Presidents Day – than Option B and one additional day off for Winter Break.

The Spring ISD Advisory Committee on Education (ACE), which includes both staff and community members, developed the calendar options using new state guidelines that now require school districts to provide at least 75,600 minutes of instruction instead of the 180 days previously required. House Bill 2610, passed by the 84th Texas Legislature in 2015, not only offers districts more flexibility in planning their calendar, but also allows them to add minutes as necessary to compensate for minutes of instruction lost due to school closures caused by extreme weather conditions and unexpected disasters. Both Spring ISD calendar options exceed the instructional minutes required by the state, Option A by 525 minutes and Option B by 90 minutes.

The 2016-17 Instructional Calendar Survey is located on the Spring ISD website at www.springisd.org/calsurvey. The deadline for participating is Feb. 3.

The survey results along with a calendar recommendation will be presented to the Spring ISD Board of Trustees for approval in February.