Many Texas Schools Are Embracing A 4-Day Schedule

It's something that many of us dreamed of as kids; a four day school week! Many of us looked forward to a longer weekend and shorter time in class. Now, many Texas schools are embracing a shift to a four-day week schedule and seeing major benefits.

According to KXAN in Austin, at least 103 school districts across Texas have now switched to four-day school weeks. Other school districts are leaning towards a hybrid schedule, where part of the school year has four-day weeks and the other part has five-day school weeks.

Here in El Paso, the San Elizario school district switched to a four-day school week, while many other schools across districts in El Paso have switched to a year-round school schedule.

So, why the shift to four-day school weeks? It's all in an effort to prevent teacher turnover. One superintendent tells KXAN:

Our why is simple and straightforward. We want to find, recruit and retain the best teachers in the state in the classrooms for our students. This change immediately makes Crosby ISD a top destination for educators in Harris County.

Teacher turnover is starting to become a real problem, a new report even shows that teachers in Texas are earning thousands less than the national average.

So the four-day school week is seeing major benefits in teacher retention-as well as attracting and recruiting educators; it's giving teachers the opportunity to give a better classroom experience to students. Not to mention, students are seeing major benefits as well!

As more and more Texas schools shift towards a four-day school week, or a hybrid schedule, we can only hope that a teacher shortage can end soon so that your students get the best possible learning experience.