SAN MARCOS, Texas — San Marcos CISD is the latest Texas school district to explore the possibility of a shortened school week.
The district recently sent out a survey asking the community what day they would prefer to have off if it adopted a 4-day school week schedule. The district has already received thousands of responses.
“I got a few texts and emails from teachers saying, 'Is this real? Is this something we can really look into?'” said Andrew Fernandez, the chief of communications for San Marcos CISD.
According to Fernandez, the change is starting to become a real possibility. The idea came around last week after the district sent out a survey asking for comments on next year’s academic calendar. Fernandez said the topic was presented to principals for their feedback, which led to the district asking for community feedback.
In addition to giving students and teachers an extra day of rest, school leaders say the district would also save money on school bus transportation and utilities for school buildings.
“We want to be creative. We want to be innovative in a time where public schools are under a lot of pressure, especially from the finance standpoint,” Fernandez said.
How would it work?
With one less day, San Marcos CISD would have to make up for the hours lost while operating in a four-day week. Per the Texas Education Agency, students have to be in school 75,600 hours, so the district would have to add about 30 to 45 minutes onto each day.
The district said it's looking at splitting it up and adding 10 to 15 minutes at the beginning and end of the day, so it does not have a dramatic impact on pickup or drop-off times.
With this change, the district is assuring all employees and teachers that they won’t see any pay decreases. The district would also make sure students and families have all the resources they need, like child care and meals on the off day.
One of the benefits San Marcos CISD is most excited about is more time for students and staff to feel rested and prepared for school.
“At the end of the day, mental health is an important factor for us here in San Marcos, and we want to take care of the well-being of our students and our staff,” Fernandez said.
That’s something Tasha Fennell – a San Marcos High School teacher, mother of two and grad student – is thrilled about.
“Giving teachers back a day gives them time to kind of process their week, feel rejuvenated, be able to communicate with their peers and parents,” Fennell said.
The district hopes this schedule change will help keep teachers like Fennell around.
“A lot of districts have seen retention increase, and we want to be a part of that process as well,” Fernandez said. “Hiring teachers is a very competitive market right now.”
The survey for feedback on this four-day week will be open until Friday. After that, the district will continue to take feedback for the next several months through public comment at Board of Trustees meetings. District leaders will also be meeting with other Texas school districts that have already implemented the abbreviated week schedule to learn more.
“We want to make sure that we're going to receive the support from across the district,” Fernandez said. “We don't want this to be a 50/50 thing. We want it to be a majority of our community is interested in something like this before we move forward in the process.”