North East ISD will extend the school day by five minutes in the 2026-27 school year after unanimously approving a new 175-day calendar on Dec. 8.
The district is required to provide 75,600 total minutes of instructional time but is not required to maintain a 180-day school year. By reducing the calendar to 175 days, the district can meet the state’s minute requirement while adding five minutes to the school day.
2026-2027 Start and End Times
Schools |
Current 180-day school calendar |
2026–2027 175-day school calendar |
Early Elementary Schools |
7:25 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. (Early Release -12:25 p.m.) |
7:25 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. (Early Release -12:30 p.m.) |
Late Elementary Schools |
8:00 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. (Early Release -1:00 p.m.) |
8:00 a.m. – 3:20 p.m. (Early Release -1:05 p.m.) |
Middle Schools |
8:30 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. (Early Release -1:30 p.m.) |
8:30 a.m. – 3:50 p.m. (Early Release -1:35 p.m.) |
High Schools (Bell schedule is linked) |
8:55 a.m. – 4:20 p.m. (Early Release -2:05 p.m.) |
8:55 a.m. – 4:25 p.m. (Early Release -2:10 p.m.) |
NEAC |
8:55 a.m. – 4:20 p.m. (Early Release -2:05 p.m.) |
8:55 a.m. – 4:25 p.m. (Early Release -2:10 p.m.) |
The proposition was presented by Esmeralda Munoz, executive director of learning support, to reduce the school year to 175 days to help with flexibility when using Additional Days School Year (ADSY) funding for summer school.
“[The 175-day calendar] is a relatively new initiative that was actually just approved this last year in 2025,” Munoz said. “The state decided to let us know that it’s not 177 and 180 anymore. The ADSY funding is now applicable to the 175-day calendar, and so the impact to summer programs actually does not exist in a 175-day calendar.”
Additionally, it would help during the events of school closures due to weather conditions, health, or safety concerns.
The 2026-27 school year will begin on Aug. 17, 2026, and end on May 27, 2027.
