Lumberton ISD Administration Building | Examiner Photo by Dannie Oliveaux
Starting this fall, Lumberton ISD students and staff will have a four-day week for most of the school year after a 5-2 vote by trustees approved a hybrid calendar for the 2023-24 school year at their March 9 meeting.
The hybrid school calendar would have students attending school the traditional five days in all of August, September, April and May, then switch to a four-day school week with students spending an extra 10 minutes each day.
The district feels it would improve student and staff attendance, along with recruiting teachers and bus drivers.
“We are pleased that the Board of Trustees approved a calendar at the March meeting so that our campuses and departments can go forward with planning for the 2023-2024 school year,” said Tipton.
Trustees Lauren Rothe and Sharon Spears voted against the calendar’s approval.
Board President James Kersh said during an earlier meeting the proposed hybrid school calendar, which was a one-year commitment by the district, was a result of multiple meetings and a collaborative effort by LISD teachers, administrators and staff.
“We can move back to a traditional calendar if we identify big issues,” said Kersh. “However, we expect smaller issues that may take multiple years to adapt into a model that works best for everyone.”
An anonymous district-wide survey on Nov. 30 through Dec. 2, shows 77.8% of LISD staff voted in favor of the proposed hybrid calendar.
Feb. 28, the special workshop was to address questions concerning the hybrid calendar.
Trustees discussed the hybrid calendar during its Dec. 8 meeting and the board failed to adopt a hybrid 4-day school calendar for 2023-2024 during its Jan. 5 meeting. The vote was deadlocked 3-3 as Trustee Dr. Chad Hammett abstained.
With the hybrid calendar, LISD students will begin school earlier than before. According to the 2023-24 district calendar released last week, Thursday, Aug. 3 is the first day of classes. The first nine-week period ends Thursday, Oct. 5 and the first week on the four-day schedule starts Monday, Oct. 6, with classes Monday through Thursday.
Schools return to the normal five-day schedule Monday, March 24 and the final day of classes is Friday, May 24. STAAR testing will be in April and May.
Campuses will be closed Nov. 20-24 for Thanksgiving, Dec. 22 – Jan. 3 for Winter Break and March 25-29 for Spring Break — all during the four-day schedule.
According to the approved district calendar, the tentative campus hours for Early Childhood and middle school is 7:15 a.m. to 2:55 p.m., while intermediate and high school hours are 7:45 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. The primary school hours are 8 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.
In 2015, state lawmakers passed a bill that changed how classroom instruction was timed. Districts no longer had to provide 180 days of classes but instead a minimum of 75,600 minutes. Requiring minutes instead of a set number of days gave districts more flexibility in how they scheduled classes.
LISD reports the scheduled minutes is 77,040 minutes, except for the high school which is 78,480. The required minutes are 75,600. The number of student days is 168 and staff days are 180.
Athletic Director James Reyes said he doesn’t think it will affect high school athletics.
While most of the LISD staff favors the hybrid calendar, working and single parents now face what to do with small children during the four-day-a-week schedule. Also during the four-day weeks, students will have one less day of eating free breakfast and lunches.
According to a Calendar Intensive Study Committee’s Report for the hybrid calendar on Feb. 7, of 1,097 responses by parents, 56.2% support the hybrid calendar.
The main concerns parents expressed regarding the 4-day hybrid calendar were child care, special services, student transportation, student meals and student achievement.
During a March 1 hearing on the state’s Senate Committee on Education, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath said the schedule shift is “harmful for student achievement on balance,” unless certain conditions are met.
He stated districts would have to shift “very, very thoughtfully.” For example, any academic disruptions during the week, such as field trips, athletic competitions, extracurriculars and other reasons for students being pulled out of class, should be moved to the non-class day.
Currently, Jasper ISD, Liberty ISD, Tarkington ISD and Devers ISD are operating under a four-day-a-week schedule.
According to HoustonPublicMedia.org, the Crosby ISD school board voted 4-3 last month to adopt a four-day instructional week calendar for the 2023-24 school year. It is the largest school district and the 44th to switch.
The local YMCA has agreed to provide full-day childcare on Fridays for families who need it for $72 per month. The district also plans to participate in the Houston Food Bank’s Backpack Buddy program to provide lunches for students who need them on Fridays.
Recently, New Waverly ISD and Slaton ISD trustees voted to switch to a four-day week, while Mesquite ISD backed away from the four-day school week.
In an op-ed, Dr. Brandon Enos, superintendent at Cushing ISD, cited a 2021 Oregon study of four-day week student performance, the math and reading achievement data of third through eighth-grade students from 2005 through 2019 were analyzed. The data revealed a significant reduction in math and a marked reduction in reading proficiency in the schools that opted into the four-day week as compared to the five-day schools.
According to Enos, the Texas Teacher Vacancy Task Force recently completed a review and provided recommendations to stop the mass exodus of teachers in Texas. Among their recommendations were increased pay, better working conditions and support with discipline.