The Texas Education Agency calls for public school students to make up days that they’ve lost due to weather closures if that involves just one or two days, according to Jake Kobersky, TEA’s Director of Media Relations.
However, if a school district builds in extra time to its school calendar, that would not be necessary, he said Wednesday. And that time is actually assessed in hours, not days, he said.
“Now that it’s not a day requirement, it’s an operational requirement, as long as the district meets its 75,600 minutes operational requirement, they’re fine and it’s going to be fully funded. They wouldn’t have to make up those days as long as they meet the seventy five six.”
The operational minutes have to be in-person, he added.
“Most every district accounts for bad weather days or makeup days,” Kobersky said. He said he hadn’t seen any waiver requests yet.
The question arises because of last Monday’s school closures in Houston ISD due to the freeze.
School districts with extended days off can apply for waivers with the state upon a board vote directing the administration to do so, Kobersky said. While the first two days are not eligible to submit waivers, he said, adding however that “they can always ask.”
We reached out to Houston ISD several times about their plans but did not receive an answer from its public relations office about the district’s plans. We will update if we hear back from them.
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.