North Texas Schools Reopen After Winter Storm

Districts have flexibility on making up missed class time

Jan. 27, 2026 at 3:55pm

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After closing for two days due to a winter storm that brought snow, ice, and subfreezing temperatures to the North Texas region, most school districts are reopening on Wednesday, January 28. While some districts have built enough instructional minutes into their calendars to cover the closures without requiring makeup days, others may utilize previously scheduled bad weather makeup days.

Why it matters

The change in 2015 Texas law from requiring a minimum number of instructional days to a minimum number of instructional minutes gives school districts more flexibility in how they handle weather-related closures. This allows them to avoid disrupting families' schedules by not requiring additional makeup days.

The details

In 2015, Texas passed a law changing the requirement for school districts from providing at least 180 days of instruction to providing 75,600 minutes of instruction. This means districts can build in extra minutes to cover potential weather closures without needing to make up the specific days missed. Some districts, like Aledo ISD and Keller ISD, have enough extra minutes built in to cover the two-day closure this week, while others like Castleberry ISD will use previously scheduled makeup days.

  • The winter storm hit the North Texas region over the previous weekend.
  • Schools were closed on Monday, January 26 and Tuesday, January 27.
  • Most districts are reopening on Wednesday, January 28.

The players

Texas Education Agency

The state agency that oversees public education in Texas.

House Bill 2610

The 2015 Texas law that changed the requirement for school districts from a minimum number of instructional days to a minimum number of instructional minutes.

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What they’re saying

“We 'bank' enough minutes into our calendar to cover these two days; we do not have bad weather makeup days in our calendar because of that. Therefore, our students should not be required to make up for our closure on Monday and Tuesday this week.”

— Aledo ISD

“Like most districts, we have days built into the required minutes on our instructional calendar so we will not need to use any alternate days to make up for these current weather closures.”

— Birdville ISD

What’s next

School districts will continue to monitor weather conditions and make decisions about any additional closures or makeup days as needed.

The takeaway

The shift to measuring instructional time in minutes rather than days has given North Texas school districts more flexibility in how they handle weather-related closures, allowing many to avoid requiring students to make up missed class time.