SAN ANTONIO — Another small San Antonio-area district will shift to a four-day school week, with officials hoping the move will allow them to recruit and retain more teachers.
Bandera ISD, which services about 2,300 students across four schools, fully approved the transition Monday. It kicks into effect for the 2024-25 school year, at which point the district will join Natalia, Utopia and La Vernia ISDs as other local districts operating on four-day weeks.
"As it becomes increasingly more difficult to recruit and hire public educators, especially in rural districts like Bandera, we have learned from our colleagues around the state that have already moved into a four-day school week that it is a very powerful recruiting tool," Superintendent Gary Bitzkie said in an email.
To compensate for the lost day, Bandera ISD will started school 10 minutes earlier and end 25 minutes later each day--adding two hours and 20 minutes of instruction over a four-day week.
Officials say they hope the move will also lead to higher student attendance rates and help with finances. The initiative was first presented in December.
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