Texas school district considers four-day week

SAN ANTONIO (Texas News Radio) — A Texas school district is considering moving to a four-day instructional week.

KYTX-TV reports Athens ISD is considering the move.

It would make the school week Monday through Thursday and, if implemented, would launch as a three-year test.  The change would need to be approved by the district board of trustees.

The plan being considered would have the 2019-2020 school year start on August 5, with the last day of instruction being May 28 and graduation May 29.

This current school year began August 15 and is set to end May 23.

Along with the roughly two additional weeks, the school day would also be 50 minutes longer.  School days would start at around 8 a.m. and end at around 4 p.m.

The district says it has spent the past six months working on this proposal.

It notes there would be many benefits to making the switch.  First, it would help with staff recruitment to bring in teachers who would prefer to work four days a week instead of five.  It also says the change would help reduce absences.

One consideration the school system has is the potential burden of parents needing to find childcare for Fridays.