LIBERTY HILL, Texas — Liberty Hill ISD is getting closer to potentially approving a four-day school week for the 2025-26 school year.
“I’d be really excited,” said Grey Heeneman, a sixth grader.
Right now, district officials are deciding if they will recommend having students off on Mondays or Fridays for staff development days, along with other school hour decisions, which they spoke about in a recent meeting.
A December survey of parents and staff shows there are pros and cons to both. Mondays would be easier for staff to get ready for the week, but Fridays would be easier for parents to get off from work or work from home.
We spoke with parents who have multiple kids in the district.
“I feel indifferent about it,” said parent Jamie Heeneman. “I feel like it could be a positive for our kids. School is a lot and four days might be better for them to have a three-day weekend, more time for extracurricular activities, family time, getting time to rest.”
Parent Danielle Smith said she feels students would lose important social development time.
“Having younger kids in school, that would be pretty rough because I work in child care, so they need me at school as well,” said Smith.
The district is discussing potential child care options for parents who need it. They are looking at third parties like the YMCA.
Officials said this change wouldn’t save the district much money. But other districts have seen some benefits from moving to an different calendar, including a significant increase in high-quality teacher recruiting, an increase in student engagement and attendance, more time for teacher planning and giving families their weekends while hosting tutorials on Fridays.
“Either it’s going to happen or it’s not, and we will just adapt to it and see how it works,” said Heeneman.
The calendar will be voted on at a Feb. 18, 2025, board meeting. It starts at 6 p.m. at the LHISD Central Administration Building.
Liberty Hill ISD issued the following statement:
“Liberty Hill ISD is thoughtfully exploring innovative instructional calendar options to better support our educators by providing dedicated time for lesson planning, professional development and grading. To ensure the process is collaborative, we actively sought feedback from staff and the community through a comprehensive survey, which plays a key role in shaping our decisions. The school board and district leadership remain committed to engaging in purposeful, informed discussions as they work toward finalizing and approving the 2025-26 academic calendar.”