Midlothian ISD exploring 4-day work week to lure new teachers
MIDLOTHIAN (CBSDFW.COM) -Midlothian Independent School District (MISD) is exploring the possibility of adopting a four-day school week to recruit and retain teachers.
Kori Sawatsky's 2 kids need all the free time they can spare cleaning and preparing farm animals for FFA showings and competitions. So the Midlothian family is all for a 4 day school week that would allow them to focus on activities that are important to them outside the classroom.
The school board discussed the proposed change to a Monday through Thursday schedule for the next school year at a meeting held on Monday evening.
The reason is the same as other rural districts which have already adopted one or are considering it, luring teachers who value more time off over working in districts that can afford higher salaries.
MISD has surveyed households with school-age children and found that 63% of them strongly or moderately favor the four-day week while 27% are opposed. More than 70 percent of teachers surveyed like the idea which they believe will give them more professional development and classroom planning time. Like other cities that have gone to 3-day weekends or plan to, Midlothian believes it could be the answer to addressing a teacher shortage.
But the district says it's also aware that some of the parents of its 11,000 students will need childcare options on Fridays.
Sheri Brezeale, MISD's Executive Director of Communications, said that the district aims to attract the best teachers possible to serve their students. However, the board is yet to make a final decision on whether to adopt the four-day week.
Just how a 4-day week will impact student performance is unclear. It's still a relatively new idea with not enough data to draw a conclusion.