In order to make up the school days missed due to flooding last week, students will now have to attend school on June 3, which originally was a staff development day.  In addition, the school day will be extended by 18 minutes.

Beginning May 2, the school day will  start at 7:20 a.m.  and end at 2:38 p.m. after the the school board passed the proposal Wednesday. Finals will most likely be pushed back a day, but a new schedule for finals has not yet been released.

“We were given a waiver by the Texas Education Agency for three of the five days we missed,” Superintendent Dr. Jim Cain said. “For the remaining two days, we are proposing to the Klein ISD School Board that we convert Friday, June 3 from a staff development day to a school day, and add 18 minutes to each day between May 2 and June 3 to equal the required minutes for the other day.”

The flood waters were too high for many people to get out of their neighborhoods or for the buses to get into the neighborhoods, prompting school officials to cancel school for five days.

Early on the morning of April 18, when the flooding started, officials said, a tornado hit Klein Collins High School, damaging about 23 classrooms. According to Cain, the estimated costs of damages are more than $3 million district-wide.

“We had crews at work last week at Klein Collins and they did a great job getting the school ready for this week,” Cain said. “In other locations we had less damage and were more fortunate than some neighboring school districts.”

After the first decision from TEA, which was to excuse only two missed days, Cain worked with the superintendent of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD to write letters of appeal to the TEA. In response, the TEA allowed Klein and Cy-Fair to excuse the third missed day. However, while Klein has to add 18 minutes to the school day, Cy-Fair only has to move the last day of school to June 2

“The TEA has guidelines that are used for situations like this, while also taking individual situations into consideration,” Cain said. “School districts sometimes have different calendars, a different number of staff development days, and can also have a different number of minutes accumulated throughout the year for instruction. That being the case, I can’t speak to anyone’s situation other than ours.”