Bandera ISD will begin a new pilot program for the 2024-25 school year, moving to a four-day school week, emulating multiple other districts in the surrounding areas.
The school year begins Aug. 6, going until May 22, according to the school calendar.
This move comes after many struggles the district has cited, such as teacher retention.
BISD superintendent Gary Bitzkie cites multiple reasons for that issue, with one big factor being housing, especially since many teachers commute from outside the county.
“Rural schools have trouble attracting teachers, mostly because of location,” said Bitzkie.
There was some pushback after the announcement, Bitzkie said, since most people have grown up with the traditional five-day school week.
During initial meetings, held in February and March, the superintendent reassured the public that education standards would still be met.
The district will still complete 25,600 minutes of instruction, as is required by the state. The school day would simply be 40 minutes longer, according to the FAQ on the school district’s website.
The school has also implemented two bad weather days, both taking place on Fridays in May.
For those who are still apprehensive, Bitzkie cited multiple other nearby school districts that moved to a four-day week and were successful.
”We researched this idea for a year and a half,” Bitzkie said. “Utopia and Pearsall both moved to four days, and it has worked out super well.”
In addition to the student and teacher benefits, the fourday school week also saved money, says Bitzkie.
“This district is 400 square miles, the buses not running on Fridays saves both fuel and overall cost,” said Bitzkie.
The four-day school week is not a new invention. It first appeared in the 1930’s in South Dakota, according to The School Superintendents Association. It first appeared in widespread use following the 2008 recession as a way to cut costs.
The first district to adopt these policies was in 2016 at the Olfen ISD in Rowena, a rural town in west Texas. Many more school districts have adopted these policies beginning in 2019.
The academic results, on the other hand, have yielded mixed results. Districts in Texas have shown improvement in test scores, while students in other states are shown to be suffering academically, according to the Texas Classroom Teachers Association.
Bitzke, on the other hand, is fully confident in the teachers of the Bandera ISD.
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