The San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District is considering a four-day school week for elementary, middle and high schools following the results of a community survey.
Public school districts across the state have made the switch to a four-day week in an attempt to recruit teachers, boost student attendance and increase overall morale.
SMCISD sent questions to parents, students and staff members last week and received 5,307 responses.
“The results were fantastic,” Andrew Fernandez, the district's chief of communications, said at a board meeting Monday. “Since I've been here, this is the largest response we've ever received.”
The district has more than 7,500 students and includes six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school.
Nearly 85% of survey respondents favored the idea of a four-day school week, and about 72% of respondents preferred having Fridays off over Mondays.
“This is in the very, very, very early stages,” Fernandez said. “We wanted to gauge the community and see how they felt. … There are still a lot of questions that as a staff we need to answer.”
One of those questions is how long it would take to make the switch. SMCISD officials will consult with other school districts to figure out whether it would be possible to implement the new schedule as soon as next school year.
Another question is whether school districts that have switched to a four-day week have decreased spending.
SMCISD had a $17.2 million budget deficit going into the current school year. Voters approved a higher property tax rate in this year's election to bring in $2.8 million to help make up the difference.
“If we turn the lights off and turn the air down a little bit an extra day … no transportation on one extra day, that's a cost-saving,” Fernandez said. “Is that the main reason we do this? Absolutely not, but if we can save some money along the way, that's great.”
Board members said they’d need to see data showing positive outcomes of a four-day week at other school districts.
“I would need to see years of student achievement data to convince me that a four-day week would be something that we should replicate here,” board member Miguel Arredondo said. “And quite frankly, I don't think we're doing a good enough job today, with the five-day week that we have, to even consider going to four days.”
About 28% of parents said they would need child care services on the extra day off. Board members also shared concerns about kids whose families may be struggling to afford food and rely on school meals.
“Those kids that, they get their hot meals here, how are we going to factor for that on that extra day?” board member Sandra Sepulveda Lopez said.
About 30 minutes of instruction would be added to each school day if the district went down to a four-day week. Fernandez said that could be split into 15 minutes at the start and end of each day.
The new schedule would not affect any staff paychecks, he said. The district will explore the possibility of teachers using the extra work day to prepare for classes.
