Utopia considering four-day school week

Utopia Independent School District (ISD) is in the exploratory phase of looking at a four-day week for the 202324 school year, and a survey of public community input closes Wednesday, Feb. 8.

“Community input is critical to creating a calendar that is best for students, families, faculty, and our community,” read a release from the district.

Paper copies of the survey are available at the district administrative offices, and the survey can be accessed at tinyurl.com/UISD4day.

A presentation given last month and accessible online said the four-day week concept can be traced back to the 1930s as a way to save operational costs for district.

The district said the request for a four-day instructional week has been brought up multiple times over the last three years by district teachers. There are approximately 205 students enrolled in the school, which spans pre-K through 12th grade.

Pros listed in the presentation when surveyed by teachers include: Benefits to employees and families

• Teachers will have Friday to do grading and lesson plans and then have a true Saturday and Sunday weekend.

• Employees can do errands and appointments on Fridays instead of having to take off during the week

• Employees can have a three-day weekend to spend on short trips and family time.

• Greater motivation to work harder knowing you are done in four days instead of five.

• Teachers save money on fuel and wear and tear on their vehicle.

Benefits to instruction

• More concentrated/focused instruction

• More time for engaging hands-on lessons.

• Teachers like longer class periods – can introduce a concept, practice the concept as a class and still have time to do practice questions in class that would normally be homework.

• Time for tutorials to fulfill HB 4545 requirements.

• More classroom time and less passing period time.

• Teachers have more planning time.

• Teachers have a day where they can attend professional development without missing class.

• Students miss less class time for extra curricular activities. Students had or are scheduled for activities on 22 Fridays during the 2022-2023 school year.

Other listed benefits listed include increased student motivation and increased teacher retention and recruitment.

Cons listed from a district teacher survey included longer instructional days, longer days for athletes, a need for daycare, community buy in and inability to make appointments on Fridays. The district says the four-day week would save money on substitutes, bus routes and utilities while increasing payment for substitute pay and pay per day for teachers.

“A four-day instructional week does not provide a significant increase or decrease to the Utopia ISD budget and therefore does not have any direct affect on the Utopia ISD tax rate,” the district said in their presentation. The district also cited a notable increase in student performance in other districts which implemented a four-day week.The full presentation is viewable at tinyurl.com/ UISD4dayinfo.