Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD trustees on Jan. 16 approved the district's 2025-26 academic calendar (option 2) after a district survey and stakeholder engagement, and also approved a staff-development waiver that lets the district exchange planned professional-development days for instructional minutes.

District staff said 1,787 stakeholders voted in the calendar survey; option 2 received about three-quarters of the votes. Option 2 contains 170 student instructional days with an instructional day of 445 minutes (compared with 171 days and a 440-minute day in option 1 presented). The chosen plan includes at least three staff prep/professional-development days situated during the academic year; those PD days will be submitted to the Texas Education Agency as a waiver to convert PD minutes into instructional minutes to meet the statutory minimum instructional-minute requirement.

Administration said the waiver mechanism allows the district to exchange PD minutes (the district described a statutory maximum exchange available) and provides flexibility to accommodate inclement-weather closures; staff emphasized that PD days held before students are present are not eligible for exchange. The board and staff discussed whether the five-minute-per-day extension contemplated in the materials will be scheduled before or after school and said operations and transportation planning will determine the final timing.

Trustees voted unanimously to adopt option 2 and to authorize submission of the staff-development waiver. The district will post final calendar details and a FAQ after the board presentation and follow-up work by operations.