Texas senators are weighing whether to pull back the calendar flexibility that lets public school districts hold classes four days a week, the Austin American-Statesman reported Monday.
The question dominated an Oct. 6 Senate Education Committee hearing with Education Commissioner Mike Morath, according to the newspaper.
"I do think schools need flexibility to address issues that are specific to their community," Morath told the committee. But he said the way that flexibility is being used "does appear to be causing a drag on learning" for students at a number of Texas schools.
Sen. Donna Campbell, a New Braunfels Republican, said she sees no benefit to the model for students and pointed to learning loss.
How districts got here
A 2015 law, House Bill 2610, replaced the 180-day school year requirement with a minimum of 75,600 minutes of instruction, the equivalent of 180 seven-hour days. Lawmakers at the time described it as a way to help districts adjust for severe weather, the Statesman reported, but the law gave districts broad discretion over when students log those minutes.
The four-day week spread after the pandemic, when districts struggled to hire and keep teachers and found that a shorter week appealed to job candidates. The freed day can be used to train staff or give teachers planning time.
One district had adopted the model in 2016-17, according to the Texas Education Agency. By 2024-25, 181 districts with 506 campuses were using it, according to a University of Houston working study cited by the newspaper.
