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Principal Melinda Smith walks children to the door after they got off the bus on the first day of school at Victor H. Hexter Elementary School in Dallas, Texas, Tuesday, August 11, 2026.<\/p>\n
Anja Schlein\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
As a North Texas lawmaker calls for the state to push the beginning of the school year<\/a> back a few weeks, experts say it isn\u2019t clear that such a move would help districts save much on their energy costs.<\/p>\n State Rep. Jared Patterson,\u00a0R-Frisco, posted on social media<\/a> last week that requiring districts to air condition their buildings during the hottest weeks of the year is \u201cone of the dumbest things we do as a state.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Patterson told\u00a0The Dallas Morning News he plans to file a bill during next year\u2019s legislative session moving the beginning of the school year to after Labor Day<\/a>, and pushing the end of the school year back to late May or early June.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Patterson proposed a similar measure<\/a> during last year\u2019s legislative session. That proposal got little traction, but Patterson said he suspects that was due to the number of high-profile bills in the House Education Committee, not because of any opposition.<\/p>\n Texas school districts generally start their years in early to mid-August. Most North Texas districts brought students back to school last week. Community\u00a0ISD and Anna ISD, both in Collin County<\/a>, returned during the first week of August.<\/p>\n Related: A day in the North Texas heat, told hour by hour<\/a><\/p>\n School districts spend millions of dollars each year on\u00a0electricity<\/a>, including the power they use to keep schools cool in the summer. Dallas ISD spent about $25.2 million on electricity during the last school year. Frisco ISD\u2019s budget for the current school year<\/a> includes $11 million for electricity.<\/p>\n Ed\u00a0Hirs, an energy economist at the University of Houston, said he has his doubts about the idea. Hirs said he doesn\u2019t necessarily oppose a change in school calendars, but said there hasn\u2019t been adequate research to support the idea that it would lead to big energy cost savings.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n School districts are required to provide at least 75,600 minutes of instruction per year. If school districts started the year later, they\u2019d have to make that time up somewhere else. Any option they chose would bring energy costs,\u00a0Hirs said \u2014 if they shortened their winter breaks, they\u2019d pay more to heat their buildings. If they extend the school year into June, they\u2019d still have to pay to keep schools habitable at the beginning of the summer instead of the end, he said. He also noted that most districts don\u2019t completely shut off their air conditioning systems during summer break so they don\u2019t end up with \u201cmold and all sorts of nasties.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul\u00a0Chinowsky, a professor emeritus of civil, environmental and architectural engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said it\u2019s important to consider not only the extreme high temperatures many parts of the country see from one day to the next during the summer, but also what weather patterns look like longer-term.<\/p>\n Related: North Texas schools’ A-F scores are out. See how your district did<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n