Miami ISD recently accepted a proposal for a 4-day school week. The topic started when creating the school calendar for the 2022-2023 school year.
Miami ISD Superintendent, Donna Hale, gave more insight into the decision.
“Miami ISD invites each employee to develop a school calendar that is presented to the District Improvement Committee. This committee votes on a calendar to be proposed to the school board for approval,” Hale said. “Last year, a 4-day school week calendar was submitted to the committee for consideration. Through discussion of the committee, the 4-day school week calendar was not selected. Move ahead to this year and a 4-day school week calendar was submitted again to the committee. This year there was tremendous support for the 4-day school week calendar. Many people on the committee reached out to other districts that had already implemented a 4-day school week calendar to get feedback before the committee met.”
As to how Miami ISD will be able to implement this change, school districts are required to have 76,500 minutes in a school year according to House Bill 2610 that was passed by the 84th Texas Legislature instead of 180 school days. Miami ISD is a District of Innovation (DOI) which allows districts to be exempt from certain sections of the Texas Education Code that inhibit the goals of the district as outlined in our locally adopted innovation plan. Miami The adopted DOI plan does not require Miami ISD teachers to work the standard 187 days . Allowing districts to have local control through the District of Innovation statute permits Miami ISD to implement a 4-day school week.
By its nature, positives and negatives are discussed with significant changes regarding education. Here are a list of advantages and disadvantages of having a 4-day school week:
Advantages:
• With a national and state wide teacher shortage, districts are exploring all avenues to recruit and retain teachers into the profession. A poll conducted in 2022 by the Charles Butt Foundation found 77% of Texas teachers were seriously considering leaving the field. This was a significant increase from 58% responding the same in 2020. Districts that have moved to a 4-day school week have experienced an increase in the number of teacher applications for vacant positions.
• Teachers have the time to prepare quality lessons that will challenge all students to their full potential. Only having one conference period a day to plan for four to five different classes, create differentiated lessons and assignments, grade papers, enter grades in the gradebook, contact parents, disaggregate data, and document concerns is next to impossible to accomplish in one 45 conference period a day.
• Students are more rested when they have had a three-day weekend.
• There is a small cost savings with operating 4-days a week.
• Increase student and teacher attendance because doctor appointments can be made on the fifth day when there is no school.
• Allows for deep cleaning of facilities on the fifth day.
Disadvantages:
• The longer school day will take some adjustment for the younger students especially if they ride a bus making their day lengthier.
• Students in extra-curricular activities will still be required to attend practice on the fifth day with no school transportation provided.
• Students that depend on the school for meals will not have meals provided on the fifth day.
• Child care arrangements must be made for the fifth day for students that cannot stay at home while parents are at work.
• There is not ample empirical data of the academic gains of a 4-day school week in Texas.
For students dependent on school lunches, Miami ISD had survey a conducted that asked if not having access to breakfast and lunch would be a concern and 88.8% said no, 4.4% responded with maybe and 6.9% answered yes. During the District Improvement Committee meetings there was discussion of looking into offering the Snack Pack for Kids program or something similar for students that need food assistance.
Regarding which day would be chosen to be taken off, Mondays will be off in the first semester and Fridays in the second semester to better accommodate for our students’ extra-curricular activities.
“One benefit of the minute requirement is the flexibility to your calendar if changes must be made because of weather issues or other unexpected situations,” Hale said. “However, we hope not to change the off days since it can be difficult for parents to make other arrangements if they do not have adequate time.”
When the school board discussed the 4-day school week calendar, it was made very clear of their expectations to closely monitor the academics and other data. If those expectations are not being met, the district will go back to a 5-day school week because the students are the top priority.
The 4-day school week will be implemented for the 2023-2024 school year. It will start at 7:55 am for elementary and dismiss at 4:15 pm. Secondary students will start at 8:00 am and dismiss at 4:20 pm. The school day will be 40 minutes longer making classes 56 minutes instead of 45 minutes.
Hale expressed her perspective on this recent change.
“I am excited for the change even though change is always hard because of the unknown,” Hale said. “The many districts I have spoken with have all expressed positive benefits with the 4-day school week and adopted a 4-day school week calendar again. With school choice being a hot topic in the Texas Legislature this session, Miami providing a 4-day school week offers parents another choice for their child’s education. Texas has school choice without the need for vouchers or education savings accounts that takes money away from public school and disproportionately hurts rural schools.”
Pampa ISD Superintendent, Hugh Piatt, voiced his opinion on this topic.
“There has been a big push across the state for different school districts to adopt the 4-day school week. Every community has their reasons for choosing it,” Piatt said. “There has not been any discussion in Pampa ISD in proposing a 4-day school week.”
