GISD survey favors shorter school week

A sizable portion of Gladewater ISD’s students, parents and staffers are, at the very least, warm to the idea of a four-day school week.
GISD Superintendent Dr. Sedric Clark updated the district’s trustees on the still-developing data about the scheduling option during the elected officials’ first monthly meeting of the new year Jan. 22.
“As we investigate the possible implementation of a four-day school week, we have collected some information from our stakeholders,” Clark said, including a survey of parents that drew 299 respondents: “72 percent of them responded that they would like for us to investigate the implementation of a four-day school week.
“We will survey parents again and attempt to get a greater response.”
Polling students in the 6th through 11th grades, 610 responded. That represents a little less than one-third of all students in all grades at GISD, and 78 percent of the respondents favor implementing a truncated school week.
Slightly more than half of the district’s employees responded, with 174 of 320 faculty and staff members overwhelmingly voicing support for the concept.
From the turnout of the employee satisfaction survey, “92 percent of them responded they would like for us to pursue implementation of a four-day school week,” Clark reported. “We will continue to collect information and report our findings to the board.
“We plan to present a choice of calendars to the board at the March board meeting.”