Three schools within the Killeen Independent School District will not be able to return to in-person class this week due to significant winter storm damage.
During a board meeting Tuesday, Killeen ISD Superintendent John Craft provided an update on when the district would be able to reopen following a week of winter weather school closures.
âThursday is a big question mark,â Craft said. âWeâve communicated Thursday but everything is going to have to go perfect for Thursday to happen. We wonât really know until tomorrow.â
Three campuses â Skipcha Elementary, Audie Murphy Middle School, and Palo Alto Middle School â sustained damage significant enough to be unable to reopen this week, he said.
Thatâs apparently not the case â at least from the viewpoint of local candidates.
As the filing period closed Friday for the upcoming May 1 municipal and school board elections, all eight races in the Killeen area are contested.
Moreover, the three local elections â Killeen City Council, Killeen ISD school board and Harker Heights City Council had drawn a total of 25 candidates for eight seats.
Six of those candidates are seeking a single seat â District 1 on the Killeen City Council. With incumbent Shirley Fleming finishing her third term and ineligible to seek reelection because of charter restrictions, a half-dozen hopefuls are campaigning for the seat.
âWeâre quickly approaching year-round school,â Killeen ISD Superintendent John Craft said.
The proposed âAdditional Days School Yearâ calendar â a Texas Education Agency initiative made possible by the passage of House Bill 3 by the Texas Legislature in 2019 offers additional half-day funding for school districts that opt to lengthen the school year at any of their elementary schools â would add 19 days to the regular school year calendar.
âNow, in full disclosure, this has some wrinkles,â Craft told the board Tuesday. âThere are some budgetary implications and just some things we really need to think through.â
Under the proposed calendar, at a select number of pilot elementary school campuses, teachers and staff would start back to school on July 19 with students start date of Aug. 3, an early start of nine days before the rest of the district would start back on the 16th. Students and teachers at those select campuses would