CSISD staff presents two draft 2026–27 calendars, community survey opens over winter break
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Summary
District staff presented two draft 2026–27 calendars (a fall-break version and a no‑fall‑break version), outlined differences in student days and professional-development/work-day counts, and said a community survey will run through Jan. 2 to gather feedback before DEIC and the board review.
Mr. Mann, district staff (calendar lead), told the College Station ISD Board of Trustees at a December workshop that the district will post two draft calendars for community review and run a public survey over winter break to collect stakeholder input.
Mann said DEIC (district committee) reviewed and refined multiple drafts this fall and that the survey will allow parents, staff and community members to rate specific workdays, school start dates and break options month-by-month. "If I'm wearing my Christmas camo, then it is time to talk about calendars," Mann told trustees as he opened his presentation on process and survey findings.
The two draft calendars differ in student-day counts and the placement of professional-development and teacher work days. Mann said the no-fall-break calendar shows 169 student days while the fall-break draft shows 170. Both drafts include a minutes-based cushion equivalent to about three days and list two bad-weather makeup days in May; in aggregate the district said those could cover up to five makeup days if needed. Mann also reported differences in staff scheduling: the no‑fall‑break draft includes 10 teacher work days and 8 PD days, while the fall-break draft lists 8 teacher work days and 9 PD days.
Staff emphasized construction and external alignment as constraints: the district seeks to align its start date with Texas A&M's calendar where practicable and told trustees that construction schedules tied to voter‑approved bond projects informed start-date options. Mann said DEIC requested that staff try to push the school start back roughly a week in some options to accommodate construction work; if the A&M spring-break week shifts, the district will amend its calendar to stay aligned.
Mann summarized survey feedback: staff comments showed strong support for a full fall week off in October as a rejuvenation period for teachers; parent responses were more mixed, with about 11% of responding parents indicating they preferred a full fall week and others citing work or childcare conflicts and favoring shorter or more frequent breaks. The district conducted a comparative review of other Texas ISD calendars across regions to provide context for trustees.
Next steps: Mann said the district planned to post the survey link by Dec. 17 and keep it open until Jan. 2 at 11:59 p.m., then return results to DEIC for discussion in January and, if DEIC recommends, bring a calendar adoption recommendation to the regular board meeting that month. Trustees asked follow-up questions about day counts, makeup days and staff return dates; Mann said the primary staffing impact would be two earlier staff return days in August on the fall-break version to preserve certain student-day placements.
The board did not take action on the calendars at the workshop; the district will collect survey responses and return to DEIC and the board in January.