At the beginning of January, Humble ISD released online at http://www.humbleisd.net/calendarsurvey, the two options for the 2016-2017 school calendar. Parents and students may vote on which option they like best. However, this year’s calendar has a slight twist.

Option B looks much the same for the first semester, retaining the same holidays and teacher work days as previous years. Option A, however, offers a slightly different approach; the first day of school would fall on August 24, 2016-a Wednesday.

Apart from this, the first semesters are exactly alike. The second semesters start on Wednesday for both options, and apart from an extra student holiday in April in Option A, are exactly alike. However, Option B gets out on June 2, five days before Option A.

However, although almost everyone would rather put off starting school, beginning so late in the week may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

“I chose A because I believe that the holidays were more logically placed,” said senior Kayla McGee. “The downside to starting school on a Wednesday is that the motivation is low when there’s only half a week of school to go to. Most people would consider it pointless to attend. On top of that, there’s not enough time for instruction or any time to really begin a lesson without it throwing off the gradual learning schedule.”

More than just students have chosen the more familiar schedule.

“I picked option B because it’s more familiar,” said US History and Economics teacher Luke Gorney. “It has a more structured end and beginning at each semester. It ends on a Friday like it’s supposed to and it starts on a Monday like it’s supposed to…and it doesn’t cut into June, where people may have planned to do things early in [the month].”

While the final verdict will ultimately come later, familiarity reigns supreme so far in the decision for next year’s calendar.