In 2015, Texas legislators unanimously passed a law changing the amount of time students are required to spend in public schools from 180 days to 75,600 minutes per school year.
More than a decade later, some state senators are considering again mandating the number of days schools are open, citing concerns about student performance in districts that use condensed weekly schedules.
The 2015 policy shift was designed to give school districts more flexibility when extreme weather or other issues lead to school closures and lost instructional time, per legislative documents. Now, state officials and experts said the policy may be contributing to issues with students' academic achievement.
"At least 180 days is the minimum," Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, said during an Oct. 6 hearing of the Senate Education Committee, which she chairs. "We've had that before, but [later] allowed flexibility and our days [in school] dropped. 180 is something we definitely need to think about."
What's happening
Under the 2015 instructional time law, two Texas school districts first moved to four-day school weeks in the 2017-18 school year, according to a 2025 working paper from the University of Houston Education Research Center.
The practice became more popular in recent years—62 districts used four-day weeks in the 2022-23 school year, which jumped to 181 districts and 572 campuses using the model in the 2024-25 school year, data from the Texas Education Agency and UH shows.
Generally, districts using four-day school weeks are closed on either Mondays or Fridays, with longer school days during the rest of the week to meet instructional time requirements. Even with longer days, students enrolled in districts with four-day schedules spend an average of 85 fewer hours in the classroom each year than students attending districts with traditional schedules, per a 2021 study on national trends.
A TEA study found that during the 2022-23 school year—when about 62 Texas districts were using the four-day school week—students attending school four days per week had lower performance in certain subjects on the annual State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness than students at five-day schools. On average, the percentage of students meeting grade-level expectations at schools with five-day schedules was at least five percentage points higher on the grade 6-8 reading and grade 4-6 math exams, state data shows.
The discussion
Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, said the increase in districts moving to four-day school weeks "concerns me for many reasons, primarily for the children," adding that he felt the legislature should set "basic minimum standards" for instructional time and the implementation of four-day weeks.
Emily Morton, the research consulting director for the Northwest Evaluation Association, which creates academic assessments, agreed. If Texas continues to allow four-day school weeks, lawmakers should add guardrails to ensure districts "maximize instructional time," she said.
Morton suggested that the state also track academic growth in districts using four-day weeks and compare it to five-day schools with similar demographics. The state could then intervene if four-day schools fall behind, she said.
Sen. Brent Hagenbuch, R-Denton, asked if the legislature should consider mandating five-day school weeks.
"I think one consideration is whether the switch back [to a five-day week] could have different effects than the switch to [a four-day week]," Morton responded. "You could potentially see larger negative impacts if it harms student and family engagement, so trying to think more strategically about what types of supports you would put into a school or district to support this transition back would also be really important."
When districts move to four-day weeks, they typically do so to solve operational challenges, such as staffing issues and budget pressures, rather than to improve student academic performance, according to James Mosteller, the Gulf state advocacy director for the Florida-based education policy group ExcelinEd.
University of Houston researchers reported that four-day school week models have "not been established as a practice proven to improve student, teacher or school outcomes," with studies demonstrating no changes in student achievement or negative results after schools switched to four-day weeks.
"There is not a benefit that I see for a four-day school week for the child," Campbell said. "We know there's learning loss. What is the advantage of a four-day [week]? Because I see none except to please somebody who wants to be off more days."
Some school officials who spoke to the committee said it should be up to individual districts to determine if a four-day week is right for them and ensure students are successful under the model.
"The four-day calendar may not be right for every Texas school district," Vernon-Northside ISD Superintendent Paul Ryan told the committee later in the hearing. "That is exactly why it should remain a local decision."
Another perspective
Casey Adams, superintendent of Woodson ISD in rural North-Central Texas, said his district moved to a four-day week in the 2019-20 school year in an attempt to recruit more teachers using "very limited financial resources."
"We didn't just take Friday off—we redesigned our schedule," Adams told the committee. "Our current calendar provides 77,836 minutes, more than 2,200 minutes above the state requirements. ... We use Fridays intentionally for extracurriculars, travel, dual credit work and other opportunities that keep students from missing classroom instruction."
That equates to 151 days in the classroom, Adams said.
"I'm not asking you to lower the bar or to require every school district to do a four-day week," he said. "I just ask you to hold us accountable for the results and give successful local communities the flexibility to decide how to get there."
In Community Impact's coverage areas, Liberty Hill ISD moved to a hybrid schedule for the 2025-26 school year, where 73% of school weeks had less than five school days, according to previous reporting. The district shifted back to a traditional calendar for the 2026-27 school year after the TEA denied a waiver allowing LHISD to dedicate required instructional minutes to professional development for staff.
When LHISD adopted the four-day calendar, district officials said the goal was to retain and recruit teachers amid budget cuts.
“The amount that has been put on teachers... has been astronomical,” Place 4 board member Kathy Major said at the time. “The No. 1 impact on student success is a master teacher with a well-planned curriculum.”
More details
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath also spoke with lawmakers about four-day school weeks during the Oct. 6 hearing.
Before being appointed commissioner in late 2015, Morath spent about four years on the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees. Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, said he recalled that Morath "advocated for a four-day school week when you were on the board" and questioned why the commissioner is now against that policy.
"I'll have to take your word for it, man—I do not remember," Morath said.
He noted that some districts have implemented "innovative" schedules where students spend one day a week learning at home or participating in an off-site career and technical education program.
"There are some examples in Texas of innovative schedules that are possible," Morath told the committee. "But that's different than you just have four days of instruction and then nothing else on the fifth day."
Texas school districts operate for "an average of about 169 days per year, and that's among the lowest in the entire country," West said. Senators also noted that other countries recording "higher educational performance" than Texas generally require their students to spend more days in school.
Campbell pointed to South Korea, which requires students to spend 220 days in the classroom each school year.
"Pewitt Consolidated ISD [meets for] 142 days," Campbell said. "Lone Oak ISD, 144 days; Alto ISD, 145; Slaton ISD, 145. By the time [a Korean] child graduates, they've got two years more instruction than our children."
