At least 15 campuses in Fort Worth ISD are adding days to the academic calendar this school year as part of a state-funded effort to improve lagging student performance.
The Texas Education Agency offers half-day funding for schools that add up to 30 days of instruction. The program, known as Additional Days School Year (ADSY), was recently expanded to include middle schools, according to WFAA.
“In June 2019, the passage of House Bill 3 by the 86th Texas Legislature added half-day formula funding for school systems that add up to 30 instructional days,” the Texas Education Agency (TEA) explains on its website.
The following Fort Worth ISD campuses will operate on an extended calendar:
Western Hills Primary
Briscoe Elementary
Carroll Peak Elementary
Clifford Davis Elementary
Morningside Elementary
Van Zandt Guinn Elementary
West Handley Elementary
Westcreek Elementary
Western Hills Elementary
W.M. Green Elementary
Daggett Middle
Jacquet Middle
Morningside Middle
Wedgwood Middle
William James Middle
The extended school year is part of a broader strategy to reverse years of academic underperformance. Fort Worth ISD has experienced low student achievement and significant leadership turnover — with two superintendents resigning in just four years.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a local nonprofit recently described Fort Worth ISD’s academic challenges as a “moral and civic crisis.”
In the 2021–2022 school year, just 32% of Fort Worth ISD students scored at grade level on the STAAR exam, according to the Texas Education Agency. By comparison, 44% of Dallas ISD students and 48% of students statewide met that benchmark.