Amarillo & Canyon ISDs Next Up For Four-Day School Weeks?

Look, I'm all for making things a bit more efficient and giving people more time away from work to spend with their families.

However, what's happening with school districts around the Texas panhandle isn't what I was thinking.

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There have been quite a few districts in the area that have shifted to a four-day school week, and I can't begin to tell you how much of a strain that will put on so many families.

I've seen a lot of different reasons for school districts moving to this format. Concepts such as giving teachers a little more time away from the classroom, to allowing kids to get more accelerated instruction outside the school day. Each district seems to vary in its reasoning.

TEA requires a minimum of 75,600 in-person operational minutes for the school year. It doesn't matter how they meet that number, which has given some of these districts to flex their calendar a bit.

They're meeting this by stretching the school day out a bit longer per day to get to the number they need to hit.

As of now, the following ISDs have moved to a four-day format of some sort:

Channing ISD
Follett ISD
Groom ISD
Happy ISD
Kelton ISD
McLean ISD
Silverton ISD
Spring Creek ISD

Notice that Amarillo ISD and Canyon ISD are NOT on that list. It doesn't mean they won't move to it in the future.

Canyon ISD Superintendent Dr. Darryl Flusche told ABC 7 News

"We are always looking for ways to provide the best educational environment. At this time, we are moving forward with a five-day week."

As a parent, hearing this kind of news makes me cringe. That means I now have to find a way for my children to be cared for one day out of the week. Can you imagine the number of kids needing care on that Friday they don't have to attend school? Think about the financial implications on families having to pay for that care.

Here's to hoping not everyone moves to a constant three-day weekend...unless that means businesses are going to shift to 10-hour workdays in order to accommodate for this, which I highly doubt is going to happen.