JACKSON, Wyo. — On Wednesday, Jan. 15, the Teton County School District (TCSD) #1 Board of Trustees could vote on a new schedule that would release students early from school on Fridays. The Board will either make a motion to vote on the Friday early-release proposal, or it will consider two additional schedule alternatives: a delayed start on Mondays, or increasing teacher in-service days to once a month.
The proposed schedule options would allow for more teacher collaboration time during the school year, according to TCSD.
TCSD Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Dr. Scott Crisp presented the Friday early release proposal to the Board of Trustees on Dec. 11. During the meeting, the Board asked Dr. Crisp to gather more data and information outlining how students and teachers would be impacted.
To help inform parents, Dr. Crisp held an informational Zoom meeting on Dec. 12, sharing his preferred option of a shorter school day on Fridays, along with two other possible alternatives.
Proposal 1 — Friday early release
According to the Zoom meeting summary, a consistent, weekly Friday release would be at 12:30 or 1 p.m. for grades K-5, and 1:30 p.m. for grades 6-12. TCSD has not yet set the exact timing that the day will end. Optional educational and recreational programming would be provided for K-5 students from 1 to 3:30 or 4 p.m. The meeting notes propose that recreational time could include learning to swim or participating in winter sports.
If this schedule were to be implemented, elementary and middle school students would spend fewer hours in the classroom during the school year. For all students, the school year length would increase by four days, from 175 to 179.
In the written summary to the Zoom presentation, TCSD acknowledged that parents have voiced concerns regarding the potential reduction of “seat time” learning hours if students were to leave school early on Fridays. According to Dr. Crisp, this proposal emphasizes a focus on better use of time, versus just the amount of time.
According to TCSD, by providing consistent staff collaboration and planning time, the effectiveness of precise and targeted instructional time with students increases, and leads to a better educational experience for all students.
Proposal 2 — Monday delayed start
In this option, there would be a consistent, later school start time for all grades on Mondays. Grades K-5 would begin the day at 10 a.m., and grades 6-12 would start school at 11 a.m. Educational or recreational K-5 programming would not be offered on Monday mornings.
This alternative would result in the same changes to instructional hours and school year length as the Friday early release alternative.
Proposal 3 — Additional teacher in-service days
This schedule would adhere to the current school year calendar, without any changes to the daily schedule’s beginning and end times.
Teacher in-service days, which are days without students present, would increase in frequency to once per month. In the current school year, seven teacher in-service days have been scheduled; this proposal would allow for 10 teacher in-service days for the 2025/2026 school year.
This option would be the most similar to the 2024/2025 school year. However, school days would increase for students and staff with a start date before Labor Day, on Aug. 25, and end the third week of June 2026. In this alternative, students would not lose any classroom time.
During the Board of Education Governance Meeting on Jan 7, 2025, a date will be set for when the Board of Trustees will vote on the amendments to the 2025/2026 school year. The earliest the Board could vote would be during its Jan. 15 meeting, when public comments can be made. Parents can also email comments to schoolboard@tcsd.org.
