Frequently Asked Questions

4-Day Instructional Week: Frequently Asked Questions

What day will we be out?

We are currently creating two draft calendars, one with Fridays off and one with Mondays off.

• Students would attend four days a week throughout the year. 
• Teachers and staff will work one Friday or Monday a month (depending on the calendar chosen).
• COCISD employees will have at least three Fridays or Mondays off each month to spend with family, schedule appointments, rest, and take care of personal business.

Will this lower the pay of teachers or other staff?

Absolutely not! This change will not lower the pay of any COCISD employee. We want this change to help recruit and retain staff. The best way to accomplish this is to reduce the number of days worked and not reduce pay.

Will this make the school year longer?

The school year will start approximately a week earlier but will end on May 23 or 24, depending on the calendar chosen.

• Teachers will return on  Aug.2.
• Students will start on Aug. 8 or 9, depending on the calendar chosen.

Will school days be longer?

Yes, we will add 45 minutes to the daily schedule. The bell schedules will be from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on all campuses.

• Recess times would be extended for grades Pre-K - 5 to break up the day.

Will we lose instructional time?

The total number of instructional days for students on both calendar drafts is 149 days, with 510 minutes of instructional time each day. This is a total of 75,990 minutes for the year, which more than meets the state's requirement of 75,600 minutes of instructional time. 

Will a 4-day school week shorten holidays during the year?

No! Holidays will not be shortened.

• Thanksgiving Break will still be a week.
• Christmas Break will be the same length.
• Spring Break will still be a week.

How will this affect extracurricular activities on Fridays (ball games, etc?) if a Friday-off calendar is chosen?

• We will play games and participate in other competitions that are on Fridays just as we always have.
• The upside to this is that a junior high student who travels to an away game on Thursday to play and gets home very late will not have to wake up early to attend school on Friday morning.
• In addition, coaches who travel on these same trips will not have to be at work at 7 a.m. on Friday either. Coaches and other staff will have to work on Friday game days, but we will work as a district to come up with an equitable solution for all employees.

What are the reasons for this change?

• To help recruit and retain certified, highly-qualified teachers.
• We are unable to pay our employees the same salaries as the larger districts in our area. This would help give COCISD a competitive edge in hiring employees.
• We have found that other districts that have 4-day instructional weeks are able to fill positions with high-quality teachers, aides, bus drivers, etc.
• By being able to hire and retain the highest quality teachers and support staff, the quality of our instruction and student success will increase.
• A 4-day instructional week will attract more students to our district.
• It will keep student and staff morale high.
• Having one day off a week will help with the attendance rates of students and staff alike.

How will the district know if this is successful?

If we move forward with the 4-Day Instructional Week, it would be as a 3-year Pilot Program. We will look at the following data to determine if it is successful or not:

• Student academic success (STAAR Tests, reading levels, math skills levels, completing dual credit college hours before graduation, earning an industry-based certification before graduation, ASVAB scores, ACT and SAT scores, and graduation rates).
• Student enrollment numbers.
• Student attendance rates.
• Employee attendance rates.
• Percentage of students participating in extracurricular activities.
• Employee retention rate.
• Numbers of certified and highly qualified applicants for each open position.
• Parent climate surveys.
• Student climate surveys.
• Employee climate surveys.

If you have questions regarding the 4-day school week that weren't answered here, please submit them to info@cocisd.org. If you would like to speak with a District Administrator, feel free to call 936-653-1115. We are more than happy to answer questions and provide information.