Four-day school week approved for 2023-2024 school year

Breckenridge ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to move forward with changing from a five-day school week, to a four-day school week, adding to the growing statewide trend. The change will go into effect in August for the 2023-2024 school year. No members from the community attended for public comment during the special meeting held Tuesday, Jan. 27.

A subcommittee was formed in late 2022 to focus on the concerns and options regarding the move to a four-day schedule within BISD. The subcommittee is made up of board members Carol Kanady, Paul Lippe and Nic McClymond. 

During the special meeting, McClymond discussed that academics are the number one priority with this matter, and Kanady followed up by speaking on the concern of the young students and parents within the district and the potential for hiring more instructors.

“We did not take this decision lightly, and we did a lot of research (...),” Kanady said. “I am concerned for the littles because there are a lot of single parents. There are daycare issues. I don’t want children left at home alone. It pulls at your heartstrings, because in an ideal family, a four-day week would be a great proponent to that family. You know, there's an extra day with your kiddos. There's an extra day if you wanted to leave early from work to travel. My concern is the working parent that’s making minimum wage that’s going to have to pay for daycare for two or three kids. That would be a hardship on that family, and we are here for the kids. Ultimately, we are here for the kids. I do agree that our administrators have a plan in place and they’ve done the research, as well. They feel this is a good recruiting tool to get the quality instructors that these kids deserve.”

BISD Superintendent Bryan Allen discussed some of the other concerns surrounding a four-day schedule, including a reduction in reimbursement for the district food services for meals and STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) remediation time for students, as well as extended class periods and longer school days.

“If we're only going four days, our class periods have to be at least 57 minutes long. So you start putting 57 minutes and a three minute passing period, each class period pretty much takes up an hour. If you're on an eight period day, that's eight hours in a day, without any kind of Buck time or remediation time and without lunch built in there,” Allen said. “I think we all knew going into this and if we go to a four-day week, we're going to have to extend time each day. It wasn't until I realized how long those class periods have to be that I understood exactly how long because you hear some places say, “Well, we just added 30 minutes, you know?” Well, some of those places have a 22-minute lunch. So, if we kept our lunches, you know, the extended lunch with the Open Campus that our community is accustomed to, it just extends it just a little bit longer.”

Kanady touched back on the subject of STAAR remediation, with House Bill 4545, and the requirements the state has in place, stating that the four-day week is a strong suit for that. The State of Texas requires 30 hours of remediation in each content area, which is currently held during school hours and can cause students to miss valuable classroom time and the district lacks the necessary amount of teachers in order to comply with that bill. Moving remediation time to Fridays would allow the district to pay tutors to provide those services.

Actual school start and finish times are still being considered, weighing the pros and cons of each option. Included in the decision making process regarding the calendar schedule is the possibility of changing Thanksgiving Break to having Wednesday through Friday off, versus the entire holiday week. Other options include shortening Christmas break or extending the school year by a few days, with either an earlier start date or later release date.

“It seems like we’ve got a lot of days off that we would be able to add back in. I just keep going back to what’s best for the kids (...) ,” Graham Reaugh said. “(...) The teachers can get some of that stuff that they’re adding on that they have to do, that we don’t necessarily see in the classroom, you know, they’ve got Friday to do that, or go do their education stuff, and that may keep them from missing more days. So they’re teaching more (...) and it appears to me some of the logistics, I know they can possibly be real difficult, but this isn’t an easy business. (...) If we wait a year and other schools are doing it and we’ve lost teachers, are we behind the curve?” 

Board member Roy Russell touched on the subject of the difficulty of finding substitute teachers, when regular teachers have to be away for appointments or training, and that Friday is the most common day to be in need of a substitute without being able to find someone to fill in. Lack of teachers in the classroom leads to a lack of productivity and education for the students within the schools of BISD.

Allen also discussed the possibility of losing teachers if BISD remained on a five-day schedule, not only to surrounding districts offering a shorter week, but to retirement for those eligible.

“(...) I’ve heard from teachers that said, ‘I’m eligible for retirement, I’m getting close to needing to do that, but if I had an extra day off every week, I think I could make it another five years.’ and experienced teachers like that, that is a plus for us, if we can hang on to them as long as we can,” Allen said.

According to a July report from the Texas American Federation of Teachers, nearly 43,000 teachers in Texas alone left their jobs, with 66% of teachers in a statewide poll saying they would consider leaving theirs. Four-day schedules are being used across the state as a means of recruiting and retaining educators within the school systems, in order to provide school children with the education and experience they need. 

There has been a rise in mental health challenges, in both students and teachers due to the increasing requirements and expectations placed on school systems, and the administration within BISD hopes a four-day schedule will aid in alleviating some of that. 

A survey conducted by the district in Fall 2022 showed 78% of parents and community members were in support of the four-day schedule.

The board will continue to meet to discuss the remaining details regarding the move to a four-day school week.