Many public school districts in Texas have four-day school weeks or are getting ready to implement them for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year. On the other hand, the Texas Senate is proposing a measure that would do away with the four-day week.
Senate Bill 2368, proposed by State Sen. Donna Campbell, would do away with the four-day week and would make five-day school weeks mandatory.
She feels as though students must have more instructional time in order to close the math and reading score gaps that began to rise due to the pandemic. She also cited the negative consequences on families and students as people would have to find child care on days that school is out.
Billy Harlan, the superintendent of Academy ISD, doesn’t agree. He states that four-day weeks assist small districts in competing with larger districts who have higher salaries. He added that it also helps with retaining teachers.
Although there is a new bill pending, Harlan and other school districts are still working to find answers to solve the problems.
If SB 2368 is successful in passing, schools would be required to have at least 175 instructional days in the year. This will include time for teaching, intermission, and recesses for pupils within 75,600 minutes.
