New Texas Law Potentially Means More Days Off for Students & Faculty

A new Texas law which counts school days in minutes and not hours means minutes added to school days could add up to more days off for students and faculty.

The new state law requires that instead of 180 days students must be in school for 75,600 minutes.

For instance, Arlington schools have added nine minutes to school days in January for elementary and junior high school students.

According to district spokeperson Leslie Johnston, these small additions mean no make-up days will be needed. If there is no more "foul weather, then the school year will end one or two days earlier."

The Texas Education Agency says that waivers will be issued for professional development days, but no more than a total of 4,200 minutes (or about 10 school days).