Houston ISD To Stagger First Day Of School Through Sept. 25, But Most Start Monday

HOUSTON, TX — The Houston ISD announced today that 202 of its 284 schools will finally get their first day of school on Monday, Sept. 11. Students from nine schools that received the harshest damage from Hurricane Harvey will start on Sept. 25 and the remainder of schools will begin either this Mondays or Sept. 18.

It's been two weeks since Harvey slammed Texas, and HISD Superintendent Richard Carranza said the district has done an exceptional job at getting the schools ready for the academic year so quickly after the devastating storm that flooded an entire region.

"During Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the surrounding school districts took six months to open their schools," said Carranza. "Hurricane Harvey was just as destructive, and we’re attempting to open a much larger school district in two weeks. Because of that, not everyone is going to start on September 11."

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There are nine schools that sustained the most damage and will require students to attend classes on another campus, all on Sept. 25.

• Askew Elementary: Students will attend a location to be determined.
• Burbank Middle: Students will attend a location to be determined.
• Braeburn Elementary: Students will attend the former DeBakey HS campus, 3100 Shenandoah St. Houston.
• Hilliard Elementary: Students will attend the former Chatham ES campus, 8110 Bertwood St., Houston.
• Kolter Elementary: Students will attend the former Mandarin Chinese Immersion campus, 6300 Avenue B Bellaire.
• Liberty High: Students will begin evening/afternoon program at Wisdom High School, 6529 Beverly Hill St. Houston.
• Mitchell Elementary: Students will attend the former Rhoads ES campus, 4103 Brisbane St. Houston.
• Robinson Elementary: Students will attend Holland MS, 1600 Gellhorn Houston.
• Scarborough Elementary: Students will attend the former Fonwood ES campus, 10719 Seneca St., Houston.

"We are working hard to ensure that all of our students’ needs are met and that teaching and learning gets underway as quickly as possible at all campuses," said Carranza. "Our priority has been and will continue to be the safety of our children and staff. I want to thank the community for their patience and cooperation during this difficult time. Rest assured, HISD is strong, and we will get through this together."

There are 202 schools that will start on Monday (Sept. 11) and those nine mentioned above. The remaining 73 schools await a final designation, which will be announced Thursday night after HISD Facilities completes further assessments. That can be found here.

Carranza said the district made sure each facility was safe, clean and secured when making assessments.

“Some campuses were fortunate to have limited damage, while others need so much work, they will not reopen this year,” said Carranza.

Carranza said Thursday that HISD, as well as 17 other surrounding school districts, are working with the Texas Education Agency on a variety of things like waivers on the amount of school days for those starting later than Sept. 11, standardized state tests and funding to help repair damaged schools and district buildings.

The uniform policy has been relaxed until January, and all students will receive three free meals a day per a grant application waiver from the USDA.

Photo via Getty Images