3 March 2-8, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Fewer Days, Better Grades? Four-day school weeks might be the future of Texas schools. BY SIMONE CARTER M any teachers have had just about enough of the state’s public education system, and some are seriously consider- ing leaving (or have already left) the field. So, in an attempt to hold onto faculty and staff, certain North Texas school districts are turning to a four-day school week. Mesquite ISD is one of the districts mull- ing a new calendar. Its website states that the four-day model would give staff more time to plan and “address instructional needs with the goal of improving overall performance.” Reached for comment, a spokesperson said the district is not granting interviews on the subject right now, but that the board of trustees will come to a decision by March 6. Laura Jobe, Mesquite ISD’s chief infor- mation officer, presented pertinent data during a mid-February board discussion about the 2023–24 school year. “Research tells us that the teacher is the most important factor in a student’s aca- demic success, and that is what is driving this process to explore some other calendars to see if that can help us recruit and retain more teachers,” she said during last week’s meeting. “We have a desire to ensure that we have a quality teacher in every single class- room in Mesquite ISD, and as you know, we are facing a nationwide shortage.” A national survey from last fall indicates that more than half of public schools, 53%, were understaffed at the beginning of this school year, per the National Education As- sociation. Jobe noted that Mesquite ISD saw some 108 teacher vacancies in August, though the district has since recovered a bit. The idea of moving to a condensed in- structional week appears popular among Mesquite ISD employees and parents alike. Asked in a survey how they’d view a four- day model for next year, 72% of parents said they were very or somewhat supportive of the change, and 84% of staff said the same. More than 40 districts across the state have embraced the four-day schedule, in- cluding Anna and Terrell ISDs in North Texas. Mesquite ISD would be the largest district to implement such a shift in this re- gion, according to WFAA. Nicole Hill, communications director for the Texas AFT union, called the idea of four- day weeks a “multi-layered situation.” “I think what is always a concern when you’re dealing with this is loss of instruc- tional time,” she said. “We’re always wor- ried about that, obviously, especially coming out of a pandemic where we lost an im- mense amount of instructional time. But I would also say you could have a district that has a six-day week and still not get a quality education if all of that time is being eaten up by things like [standardized] testing.” The way Hill sees it, it’s important to ask whether this idea is treating a symptom or a root cause. Some districts have had posi- tive employee feedback about the change, but there are many more quality-of-life is- sues that need to be addressed, as well as higher pay. Teachers often push for protected non- instructional time to plan and collaborate with colleagues, so a four-day week could potentially help improve working condi- tions, said Holly Eaton, director of profes- sional development and advocacy with the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. Some participating districts have chosen to add time to each of the school days to make up for the day off. Other districts, mean- while, are instead extending the school year. Eaton also mentioned a notable distinc- tion: This wouldn’t mean a four-day work week for teachers, who would presumably clock in on the fifth day. And some districts may provide options for the children of working parents who would otherwise need to find daycare. However, one study of a recently minted four-day school district found a drop in stu- dent achievement and teacher retention, Eaton said. Nearby home values also slumped. Part of the problem may be that the district didn’t raise teacher salaries to make pay more competitive. “To me that sort of says: It can’t be a silver bullet if you’re trying to address teacher shortages,” Eaton said. “It can be one facet of a probably multi-pronged approach.” In addition, advocates may tout the move as a cost-saving measure, but Eaton said re- search suggests that districts usually just save below 3%. “It’s a pretty mixed bag on the research,” she said, “so it’s important to proceed with caution.” Texas AFT’s Hill mentioned that many of her organization’s members believe they don’t have a voice in decisions regarding their own profession. It’s encouraging to see districts like Mesquite asking for their em- ployees’ thoughts via surveys, she said. Public education is in a “very interesting moment,” she continued. The Texas Legis- lature is considering bills that could shape the state’s school system for better or worse: While some lawmakers are pushing for teacher pay raises, others are gunning for school vouchers and privatization. “It’s this weird tension right now in the education space. On one hand, you want to give us money, and on the other hand, you want to take that money away,” she said. “We really do have two paths here. … And we will see in May which one we choose.” ▼ SPORTS A BEACON FOR BIKING BIKE COMMUNITY MOURNS THE LOSS OF A BELOVED SHOP EMPLOYEE. BY KELLY DEARMORE E very scene or sub-culture needs someone who serves as a beacon — a person whose enthusiasm attracts the uninitiated and stokes the long-burning embers of those who’ve been around the block a time or two already. The North Texas mountain biking community lost one of its own beacons when James Kincheloe, 40, was found murdered on Feb. 16 in Don Johle’s Bike World, the Garland bicycle shop where he had worked for more than a decade. According to Garland police, the man suspected of killing Kincheloe, Wesley Don Johle, 58, the namesake of the shop where Kincheloe worked, was found dead of an ap- parent self-inflicted gunshot wound when officers arrived to arrest him. The details surrounding the murder are still being in- vestigated, but one thing that isn’t a mystery is the impact Kincheloe had on those around him in the mountain biking community. The parents of two young boys, Kinche- loe and his wife, Daisy McKee, had been to- gether for about six years. Kincheloe had been into bikes since he was big enough to get on one, and before suffering a hernia re- cently, he regularly rode his BMX bike to and from his shifts at the bike shop, about nine miles each way, McKee said. “He [Kincheloe] never even bothered learning to drive,” she said. “He was per- fectly content never getting behind the wheel so long as he could still sit upright on a bike and pedal.” Kincheloe was an advocate for not only the health benefits that bicycling can bring, but for the financial benefits too. He was all too happy to save money on gas and car payments. His joy for biking was most apparent to his wife when it came to how he incorporated bi- cycles into the family’s routine. | UNFAIR PARK | Unsplash Four-day school weeks give staff more time. >> p4
