This webpage is an archived re-cap of the calendar development process. On Monday, January 22, 2024, the Hays CISD Board of Trustees adopted the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 academic calendars. 

Visit https://www.hayscisd.net/calendar to view the adopted current and future academic calendars.

Hays CISD academic calendars are developed through a process that allows for parent, teacher, staff, student, and community input. The Board of Trustees makes the final decision regarding the academic school calendars for the district. The process begins with District Leadership Team (DLT), which is a group comprised of teachers and professional staff, parents of students enrolled in the district, business representatives, and community members. This committee narrows options to a working draft calendar that is then presented to the greater community for feedback. 

When possible, Hays CISD adopts academic calendars in two-year cycles. The calendars currently proposed are for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years.

Note that no calendar is official until adopted by the Board of Trustees. Please do not use the draft calendars on this page for planning purposes.

Texas law does grant some flexibility to school districts regarding the school calendar. However, there are some criteria that must be met.

Here are the legal considerations for Hays CISD:

• Instructional Minutes: Students must be in attendance for a minimum of 73,500 minutes per school year (75,600 minutes less 2,100 minutes for professional development). Hays CISD has been approved for professional development waivers, which allow 2,100 minutes for teacher and staff professional development during the school year in lieu of instructional minutes. The district believes that well-prepared and trained teachers and staff provide the most exceptional educational experience for students.
• Instructional Days: The exact number of student days varies depending on the bell schedule for each year and the number of minutes earned each day. Generally, there are about 169 student days in each Hays CISD academic calendar. 
• Staff Contract Days: Teachers work 187 contract days, including days with students and days spent on professional development and planning.  
• Start Date: State law requires districts to begin school no earlier than the fourth Monday in August. However, as a state designated District of Innovation, Hays CISD is able to waive this requirement and start school earlier in August to ensure classes end before June of the following year. 
• Specific Holiday Mandate: Schools cannot hold classes, either scheduled or as weather make-up days on Memorial Day. 

Here are some calendar items that are not required by law, but are established and popular traditions in Hays CISD:

• End the school year before Memorial Day. 
• Keep a full week off at Thanksgiving and at least two full weeks off at Christmas. 
• Provide monthly breaks for students and teachers when possible.
• Give students the day after Halloween off.  
• Schedule more than the required number of annual instructional minutes to allow the district flexibility when determining whether to make up instructional days affected by inclement weather or other school closures or delays.