SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District is considering a four-day school week for students and staff.  SMCISD recently sent out a survey to students, staff and parents asking what changes they would like to see in the district. Many survey respondents indicated they would like the district to consider implementing a four-day school week.  “We're in the very early stages of this process, and so we're not leaning one way or another,” said Andrew Hernandez, a SMCSID spokesperson. “We truly just wanted to gauge the consensus of our community.” Herandez said they sent an additional survey to the SMCISD community on Monday, asking how they would feel about losing a fifth day. He said that the survey closes on Friday.  This is not an uncommon move. Many other Texas school districts have already switched to a four-day school week. According to a KXAN report from March, 83 districts had already approved a four-day school week, affecting almost 100,000 students.  Hernadez said the district is communicating with other school districts that have made the switch about what has been successful. “Something that we have seen from every school district that we've talked to is the retention of staff has increased,” he said. “We want to hire the best teachers for our students. And if this can be used as a recruiting tool – but also a retention tool to keep our teachers here in San Marcos – we [would be] excited about that opportunity.” While they are still in the exploratory phase, Hernandez said if the new schedule is implemented it would likely lead to slightly longer school days.  “The number one priority that we want to explore is student outcomes. We want to make sure students are progressing. Whether it's a four-day week or a five-day week, the number one priority is making sure students are learning and making sure they're progressing,” he said. Hernandez said the new schedule would not affect any staff’s paychecks.  “We are not trying to save money when it comes to our staff,” he said.  “We're not going to throw it out there and hope it's successful. We want to make sure that we've thought of every single thing before we implement,” Herandez continued.