Texas School District Will Move to a 4-Day Schedule Due to Shortage of Teachers

Well, I think many of us would be in favor of a 4-day week schedule when it comes to work and school. A Texas school district recently adopted the schedule, but it’s due to a shortage of teachers.

The Jasper Independent School District announced that students would attend school four days a week for the 2022-2023 school year.

It cited teacher shortage and retention when it announced the change on its Facebook page last month. The district also said it had conducted surveys with parents, teachers, and staffers before its board of trustees voted in favor of the change, ABC News reported.

John Seybold, superintendent of the Jasper Independent School District, said the decision was favorable because of the burnout among current teachers and difficulty recruiting new teachers.

“Teacher burnout has been an issue for a long time, but since COVID, it has seemed to expand, and it’s becoming more and more of an issue,” Seybold told “Good Morning America.” “The four-day week kind of makes it a little more manageable for them because there’s so much pressure placed on our teachers.”

“As a school district, ultimately the best thing we can do for kids is put the best possible teacher in front of them every day.”

The school district in Jasper, Texas, which is a city roughly 134 miles northeast of Houston also plans to give teachers and school staff a financial incentive if they stay in their positions.

Teachers would receive a 3,000 stipend and staff members would receive $1,500 if they remain with the district. The funds would come from the public school district’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, a federal grant program under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Seybold also announced that the school district now has just one teacher vacancy. Before the changes, the high school science positions “had been unfulfilled for two years.”

“Where we used to post a job and get no applications, now we’re getting multiple applications for every position. So it’s kind of worked so far,” Seybold said.

All Jasper Public School System students would be subject to the four-day school week.

Would you be open to a four-day schedule as a parent or teacher?