VISD implements four-day school week

The Vysehrad Independent School District will be implementing a four-day school week beginning in the 2024-25 school year.

“Several districts in the area as well as across the state are starting to entertain or implement a four-day week and there’s multiple factors of why,” VISD Superintendent Robin Trojcak said. “One of the reasons is to help address the burnout for both the students, parents, and the staff. Since COVID, education and the demands have taken a toll on individuals in all facets with education being one of them. If we learned anything from the pandemic, it confirmed that educating children can be successful in a variety of ways. After much research and disaggregation of data, it was confirmed that both students and staff attendance rates may increase. A more positive energetic learning environment may be present all while continuing to teach our students not only the required Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) required by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), but also while teaching the ‘whole child.’”

“We’re going to try the four-day option as a trial for one year to see if there are positive benefits. If so, then the district may continue it. If not, we will come back to the drawing board and gather more feedback and data from all stakeholders and determine what is best for all.”

The district is not shortening the instructional week. TEA’s required number of instructional minutes is currently 75,600 for the school year. The students will be attending school next year just under a handful of minutes less compared to this school year. VISD has opted to have Mondays off rather than Fridays.

“We’re doing this because the students and staff and some parents may already have off on the designated federal holidays that normally land on Mondays,” Trojcak said. “It made more sense to have Mondays off because the schedule is more consistent. After collecting responses from two surveys and obtaining more than 50% of parent and staff input, the decision was made to bring the option to the school board for consideration and approval.”

“I sent out a survey on this to our staff, our school board, and our parents regarding the option of what worked better for all. Another reason we chose Monday off is because parents and staff chose that day over Fridays. Such thoughts were brought to me regarding other reasons why Mondays off would be better such as if parents decide to spend time with their families and go on a trip over the weekend. If they stay on Sunday nights, usually hotels are cheaper than that on Fridays.”

After the district received feedback from stakeholders, it was evident that only a small handful of people preferred a five-day week.

The staff’s salaries will not be affected with this school week. The staff and students will get off every Monday as well, except certain Mondays in August as the district is designating those for professional development courses. The district will also have designated days for faculty meetings one Monday per month.

“We may also have teacher and parent conferences (on Mondays),” Trojcak said. “We’re trying to be accommodating to all including our working and busy parents.”

The district is also offering free daycare for the first year on Mondays.

“Of course, we don’t want our parents to have to withdraw their kids from our district because they don’t have anywhere for them to go on the day school may not be in session,” Trojcak said. “Therefore, I have asked the school board to offer childcare and supervision by staff on these days excluding federal holidays that all would be off. We are going to have two staff members that will be on standby to help monitor the students and they will sign up for every Monday they are off. We won’t have the cafeteria open for food, students will bring sack lunches. Students can come on Monday to work on their homework or enrichment programs on the computer, but it won’t be an instructional day. Teachers will not be teaching lessons.”

This will be cost effective for the district with the four-day school week.

“We’re going to be cutting down our bus routes and minimize the use of electricity and maintenance of our facilities,” Trojcak said.

School will start next year on Wednesday, Aug. 7 rather than the following week like this current school year. The district is confident that this adjustment to the calendar will benefit both staff members, parents, and students.

“We appreciate all parents and staff for working with us throughout this process,” Trojcak said. “Change isn’t always easy, but with change comes new opportunities for growth and Vysehrad ISD is on the path of growing in all areas. Please spread the word and encourage others with school age children, Pre-Kindergarten 3-year olds through eighth graders to come check out what our school offers. Our school is small yet provides strong foundations for all, all while doing it four days a week.”