Should CSISD Switch to a Four-Day School Week?

After a district-wide survey yielded overwhelming support from parents and staff, Anna ISD became the latest Texas school district to move to a four-day school week, joining over 40 other districts that have approved the switch.

These districts have seen increased teacher retention and recruitment, and in some cases, improved test scores. Four-day school weeks are a good idea in general, but due to state regulations we believe it is not a viable option for CSISD at this time.

The state of Texas requires school districts to be in session for 75,600 minutes per year. The districts that are moving to a four-day school week can compensate for the shift in two ways: increasing the length of the school day, or increasing the length of the school year.

CSISD high schools already have school days over seven hours long. Increasing that length forces extracurricular activities to be even later in the day. Students already have trouble balancing all of their commitments; they deserve to have time in the day to rest and be with their family.

The other option is increasing the length of the school year. However, the summer break gives both students and teachers not only much-needed time to decompress from the daily rigors of school, but to work on any number of other ventures. Some students take summer courses to get ahead on credits. Others spend the break working, interning, traveling and undergoing enriching experiences that are not necessarily academic. A four-day week would cut into these activities drastically.

Switching to a four-day week also fails to account for students who do not have a safe place to stay or depend on school for meals. Some districts have instituted measures to help these students, such as offering pick-up lunches on Fridays. But none of these efforts can replace the value of having a safe, comfortable environment where all students do not have to spend their extra day off searching for a place to stay.

All of this is assuming the switch is even necessary. The districts that have adopted the trend are smaller, rural districts such as Athens, Jasper and Mineral Wells. They have struggled mightily to attract and retain teachers, and the change was put in place to help on that front. While it has been successful, and CSISD has experienced retention struggles lately, we do not feel the situation is desperate enough to warrant that adjustment. We are not against a four-day school week as a concept. A switch does offer many benefits for both staff and students. The issue is, as it often is, state regulations. The state-mandated 75,600 minutes means that the change in schedule would be worse than what we currently have now. If the increase in the school day or school year would not be so drastic, we would support CSISD adopting a four day school week.

The Roar 2022-2023 Staff

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Myla Cathey

May Sarin

Ian Curtis

Emily Chen

Debkonya Banerjee

Dhriti Kolar

Elena Alaniz

Aliza Jacob

Atticus Johnson

Evy Hairell

Masie Johnson

Trinity Craig

Ainsley Guzman

Michael Williams

Adviser

Chauncey Lindner

“We should have four-day [school] weeks but take Wednesday off rather than Monday or Friday. In Europe [students] don’t have the same classes everyday, so I think if we alternated classes and made them longer then we would get more out of the day.”

- Freshman Andrea Salgado Soto

Myla Cathey

Ian Curtis

May Sarin

Chen