COLDSPRING — The Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD Board of Trustees finally gave in to the Texas Education Administration’s demands regarding the 165-day academic calendar.
The acceptance came at the April 27 meeting.
Dr. Karen Garza, COCISD’s TEA conservator, took the podium to answer questions regarding the TEA’s authority and the logic behind adding seven more instructional hours to the academic calendar.
Garza insists that it is more than just an extra seven hours, but 15 more days that students get to study the curriculum with their teachers.
“When you start looking at time of each day, that’s a little deceiving; having a student in front of you 15 more times, that makes a big difference,” Garza said.
Garza said that students will have a better chance of being successful with more instructional time.
However, Trustee William B. Baker was not buying what Garza was selling.
“I was raised by a math teacher. I know what seven hours of instructional time can do and what it cannot do as well,” Baker said.
The board maintains that it would be more costly to bring in teachers for 15 more days during the school year; however, Superintendent Dr. Bryan Taulton thinks that it would be more costly to not implement the academic calendar proposed by the TEA.
It has been reported by Taulton that COCISD lost many incentives, including their DOI, by not cooperating with the TEA’s directives. “The goal is to continue to improve, you get to higher ground and you have more flexibility,” Taulton said.
Nevertheless, the board rescinded its adoption of a 150-day calendar and will now adopt the 165-day calendar for the 2026-2027 school year.
The decision was 6-1, with Baker being the only opposing trustee.
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