Winters ISD's 4-day instructional week has both teachers and students in mind
The Athens ISD makes its mission clear at the top of its website.
ATHENS
Independent School District
Home of the 4-day
Instructional Week
The Class 4A district 73 miles southeast of Dallas took a new direction for the 2019-20 school year. And has not looked back.
It's a direction that Winters ISD, a Class 1A district 280 miles to the west, chose last spring to take. And Merkel ISD just last week with classes beginning Monday.
Rochelle and Olfen, also in Region 15 with Winters, have gone to the same schedule.
"It's scary," WISD Superintendent Sean Leamon said. This is only the start of his third year in Winters, and he is bucking tradition.
But so did Dairy Queen when it introduced the Blizzard, ice cream in a cup instead of a cone, so thick you could hold upside down.
Now, it's the Winters Blizzards who are turning education upside down.
A catch-all day, not a day off
Wednesday marks the start of a new era as Winters students, teachers and staff return to school for the new school year.
The key word is "instructional."
This is not school for four days - the campus will be open all five weekdays.
Leamon said some might believe "teachers just want another day off. It's not going to be a day off. It's going to be a work day."
Adding 15 minutes to the start and end of Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays will satisfy state-mandated instructional minutes. The state now requires at least 75,600 minutes, a change from 180 days.
That leaves Friday open for .... well, possibilities.
Merkel ISD has opted to use Mondays for its catch-all day.
Those, Leamon, said, rattling them off enthusiastically, include tutoring, reading sessions, student catch-up, UIL practice, helping students who don't meet STARR and end of course exam requirements, and for career tech students "to get more work in because those kids can work all day out there if they choose."
And especially in the spring, it will give high school students who are involved in a myriad of extracurricular activities and are absent many the chance to get their school work done ahead of time. Or, if they miss a day earlier in the week, a chance to catch up Fridays.
Instead of needing Saturday school because of absenteeism, "now we'll have Friday school," the superintendent said.
"As we started digging into it, it really seemed like something that we could make work for us," Leamon said.
Students will gain, but so will teachers.
The four-day week, Leamon hopes, gives faculty and staff back their weekends.
With the teachers in short supply, the reaction to four-day instructional weekends elsewhere was so positive that he brought it up in the spring.
Winters employs about 120 staff members, about 70 of which are teachers. There are 555 students in the district, pre-k through 12th grade.
Leamon said teachers in particular were hard-pressed to get everything done during the week. And so, they worked Saturdays. Wanting to have family time, Leamon was told by some that they gave up church services Sunday for family time.
It was time to do something, and Leamon threw out an idea.
What if we taught school for four days, and gave you time the fifth day to get things done?
Hmmm.
Teachers bought in, after shock wore off
This all started with the calendar committee that meets to plan the coming school year. Teachers from all WISD campuses are in this group.
"I usually kind of sit back and don't say anything," Leamon said. Ideas for the new year were discussed.
They asked his opinion, and he deferred to them. His job is unaffected.
"You guys are the ones in the trenches," he told them. "There has been so much thrown at educators from the state with requirements ... it's hard for them to find the time in order to do some of these things. I was starting to see a lot of burnout. I was worried if I was going to be able to keep staff members."
So he dropped a bomb.
"What about a four-day week?" he asked.
Leamon came to Winters from Sonora, where he was a high school principal. He was familiar with the stress on students who missed classes for events and teachers who tried to keep those students up to speed.
And what about finding subs for teachers who are out?
"It's hard to find teachers, but it's hard to find substitutes as well," he said.
He broached the subject of a four-day instructional week but was shot down.
"We all just laughed about it," he said. But Leamon seriously believed teachers would buy in if given a chance.
"It has been something I've been looking at for a few years," he said.
He put his theory to the test in Winters.
Some reacted as if the superintendent had suggested teaching kids the sun rises in west, or 2 plus 2 equals 22.
"A lot of them laughed and said, 'You're joking, right?'" he said, laughing at the memory.
But he was serious.
"I don't care. What about that?" he answered. "It's up to you guys. Y'all can look at anything you want."
When his group determined their superintendent hadn't gotten brain freeze from eating ice cream too quickly, they talked about it.
Another meeting was set for two weeks later and in between, the teachers studied the option and "started seeing there could be a lot of positives for kids," Leamon said. "And for them.
"They took it and went from there."
The superintendent knew the most questions would come from elementary teachers, whose students are on more regular schedules than older students. Leamon went to campuses and answered questions during lunch breaks.
"I was honest with them and they jumped on board as well," he said.
"I'm not the first one. I'm not reinventing the wheel," he said of the idea. "But if we keep having these teacher shortages, we're going to have to be creative."
All aboard this train?
The plan had to pass muster with food service to feed students Fridays and work with athletics.
For example, coaches would need to schedule tournament play for Fridays and Saturdays, not Thursdays.
This all had to work with community, too. Especially with young students with working parents, the youngsters could not be left to their own for a day. Some in Winters need to drop off their kids early to make the 40-mile drive to Abilene to work, he said.
Having activities for them and providing breakfast and lunch, as usual, would be necessary.
Leamon said the WISD corralled a Afterschool Centers on Education grant, funded by the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative of the U.S. Department of Education. It is administered through the Texas Education Agency.
Fridays will allow for more use of the ACE program for younger students and perhaps once a month include a good field trip.
The change is critical to keep teachers, Leamon said.
"I've been in this business a long time, if I don't have good teachers and my teachers aren't happy, it sure makes my job hard," he said. "That has been my goal, to help my staff. If your teachers are happy, guess what? Your kids are happy, If your kids are doing better, then guess what? Your parents are happy.
"It's this major ripple effect."
Many teachers were spending most of their Saturdays at school.
"You know what? I like my family and I need some recharge time," Leamon said. The mental health of his staff is important. After teachers batted around the four-day idea, Leamon said the attitude was "we can do this."
If they could adapt to one state mandate after another, they could make an instructional change.
Leamon said school districts smaller than Athens have been successful.
"They are not looking at going back," he said.
Dave Lewis, the superintendent at Rochelle and a friend of Leamon, told him, "Sean, I've had more applicants for my jobs. It's been good for us."
Districts competing for teachers are giving this idea serious consideration, Leamon said.
"Make their district more appealing to be at," he said. Leamon said keeping teachers for a duration in Winters has been challenging, affecting consistency.
It's not about saving money, either.
"No, it's about keeping people here. Keeping my kids and my staff happy. That's my ultimate goal," he said.
And it fits the district's new motto − "Quality Over Quantity."
Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Winters ISD's 4-day instructional week has teachers, students in mind
