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Liberty Hill ISD board weighs move to four‑day week as staff, parents raise scheduling concerns
Summary
Trustees and staff discussed three proposed 2025–26 academic calendars — including a condensed or “innovative” four‑day student week — and asked staff to return with details on childcare, instructional minutes and impacts on extracurriculars before a February vote.
Trustees of the Liberty Hill Independent School District spent the bulk of the Jan. 22 board meeting examining three draft academic calendars for 2025–26, including an option that would move students to a four‑day week for large portions of the school year while retaining staff workdays.
The calendar presentation, led by a district staff member identified in the meeting as Mister Motel, explained the district had circulated two initial proposals and later developed additional variants after public and staff feedback. "It is only three student days difference from calendar A," Motel said of the more innovative option, which condenses staff development days and shifts many professional‑learning days onto Fridays.
Board members said the proposal has potential benefits for teacher planning and recruitment but flagged practical concerns for families and for elementary‑age students. "If we're gonna go for an innovation calendar to support the teachers, then it should be predictable for the parents," Trustee Cathy said. Trustee Christie and others warned longer school days could push high school release times into late afternoon, complicating athletic and extracurricular schedules.
Why it matters: Trustees said the calendar could give teachers more structured collaboration time and has been cited by similar districts as a recruitment tool, but the district must also meet the state's minimum instructional‑minute requirement (75,600 minutes) and consider childcare, transportation and impacts on high‑school athletics and extracurriculars.
Key details discussed - Options considered: Calendar A (168 student days, more traditional distribution of staff days), Calendar B (165 student days, condensed staff development, some staff days on Mondays), Calendar C (a more‑consistent four‑day student week from start to finish; cited as 160 student days in presentation and would require adding minutes to meet state minutes). - Instructional minutes: The district must meet 75,600 instructional minutes to secure state funding. Some calendar options would require adding a small number of minutes per day (presenters noted examples like +5 minutes) or designating bad‑weather makeup days. - Child care and substitutes: Staff said the district currently provides free childcare for staff and is exploring additional locations and third‑party providers to serve staff and possibly parents on staff‑development days; staff cautioned that providing childcare for parents would require more planning and support personnel. - Extracurriculars and high school schedules: Trustees asked about later dismissal times under some scenarios; staff estimated adding minutes for high school schedules could push release to about 4:45 p.m. or later depending on the option and start time. - Community feedback: A district DEIC (district education advisory) review provided input and said either calendar A or B would be acceptable to them; districts that adopted four‑day weeks reported initial parental concerns that diminished after implementation.
Board direction and next steps Trustees asked staff to refine impacts on substitute coverage, transportation costs, childcare logistics (including possible east and west locations), and the district's pacing guides and course schedules if a four‑day student week is adopted. Superintendent Snell and staff were asked to bring more detailed bell schedules, financial impacts for hourly staff (CNS, transportation), and a communications/FAQ plan back to the board. The board aims to consider final approval in February.
Quoted from the meeting "It is only three student days difference from calendar A," Mister Motel, staff presenter, said while explaining calendar differences. "If we're gonna go for an innovation calendar to support the teachers, then it should be predictable for the parents," Trustee Cathy said.
What remains unresolved Trustees did not take any formal vote on a calendar. Key unresolved items include whether to adopt a true four‑day student week (calendar C), how many additional minutes — if any — the district will add to daily schedules to meet state minute requirements, and how to provide reliable childcare on staff development days for staff and/or parents.
The board scheduled additional discussion: staff will return with deeper analyses and concrete schedules in advance of a planned February vote.
