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College Station ISD proposes adding 10 minutes to school day to align high school schedules and expand teacher planning time
Summary
Administrators proposed adding 10 minutes to each school day and amending the 2025–26 calendar to create roughly four staffed days that could be used for teacher planning or professional development and to align bell schedules for shared CTE programming.
CSISD Assistant Superintendent for curriculum Ms. Leifer told trustees on April 15 that district leaders and the principals at the two comprehensive high schools are proposing to add 10 minutes to the school day to align bell schedules and permit shared use of the CTE (career and technical education) center.
Leifer said aligning high school schedules would allow the district to shuttle students between campuses and the CTE center without requiring students to change campuses permanently. Transportation department input is required, she said, and the 10 minutes would be added at the end of the day to minimize family disruption.
The change also would create built‑in instructional minutes that the district can convert to staff time: Texas Education Agency rules set a minimum of 420 minutes per day; Leifer said CSISD currently schedules 445 minutes per day. Adding 10 minutes to reach 455 minutes would build roughly the equivalent of 3.9 additional full instructional days over the year, Leifer said, and the district plans to propose using that time as two teacher work days in each semester for planning or focused professional learning.
Logistics: Leifer said lunches would be standardized to 30 minutes with a five‑minute passing window; any remaining minutes would be added to instructional time. She also said that because TEA counts district minutes at the lowest-minute campus, the district must coordinate all campuses’ bell schedules and that any change would require consultation with transportation and school leaders. The proposal envisions an amended 2025–26 calendar to be presented in May for board review and possible action.
Board discussion: Trustees and administrators emphasized obtaining principal and parent input through DEIC and campus channels. Several trustees expressed support for the alignment and the extra planning time; administrators noted they would bring an amended calendar in May for board review and submit the item for action if trustees direct.
Next steps: The district will present a near‑final budget and calendar options in May, seek feedback from DEIC and principals, and if the board agrees may approve an amended 2025–26 calendar to add the minutes before the start of the year.
