Liberty Hill ISD discusses four-day week at board meeting
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Liberty Hill ISD at a board meeting last week discussed the possibility of transitioning to a four-day school week for the 2025-2026 school year.
Liberty Hill ISD’s Chief of Schools Travis Motal presented the innovative calendar and said it would “give our teachers and staff more time to plan, collaborate and learn. With upcoming budget cuts, there will be more responsibilities placed on them for more support.”
LHISD in the board meeting discussed two calendar options, one with Mondays off and the other with Fridays off. Motal said the district is looking into possibly providing a childcare option for parents on the off day.
Motal highlighted a few of the common themes seen in Texas schools that have implemented a four-day school week:
- Significant high-quality teacher recruiting tool
- Teachers and staff need the additional time for planning and to offset the demands of the profession
- Increases in student attendance and engagement
- Parents concerned to start this type of calendar but after implementation, they are in favor
- Scheduling concerns with student supports and length of the day
- Struggle with fewer staff days before the first day of school but adjusting
- Hosting credit recovery and tutorials on Fridays to students, parents and staff their weekend
This comes as some districts in Central Texas have already implemented a four-day school week, such as Rockdale ISD, Academy ISD, and Lometa ISD.
LHISD will host a town hall on Feb. 10 where the district will get feedback from the community on the innovative calendar. It will then go to the board for approval later this month.
