ROWENA, Texas -- One of the smallest school districts in Texas will make history this fall as it transitions to a predominately four-day school week — the first of its kind in the state.
Olfen Independent School District, a kindergarten-through-eighth grade district outside San Angelo that boasts 56 students, approved the new schedule earlier this month. Olfen officials cited a new law passed by the Legislature allowing districts more flexibility in setting calendars.
"We think this is going to be something great for our students and something that can also benefit a lot of parents out there," said Olfen Superintendent Gabriel Zamora. "I just saw the possibility, once the law was passed and everything. I never thought I would be in the district that had the right circumstances."
The Olfen school board unanimously voted Jan. 12 to approve the change for the 2016-2017 school year. The new schedule includes four mandatory instructional days and an optional day on Friday. Students who do not receive passing marks on progress reports will be required to attend school on Fridays to receive tutoring, while passing students will have the choice to stay home. A handful of weeks during the year will have a full five days of instruction.
Zamora, who compared the optional day to "Super Saturdays" in other districts, said it would include a few hours of tutoring in the morning and activities such as karate, tumbling and pottery in the afternoon.
Zamora proposed the change after the Legislature last spring passed a law altering how the state defines a school year. The law requires districts to have at least 75,600 minutes of instruction each year instead of the previously stipulated 180 days.
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