By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review
THORNBURG – Four-day school weeks are rapidly growing in popularity at schools across Iowa. In the 23/24 school year, just six school districts operated on a four-day schedule. This number rose to 18 in 24/25 and 27 this year, most of them in small, rural areas. Keota, Waco, Highland, Cardinal, Moravia and Twin Cedars school districts have all moved to four-day weeks in recent years. On Feb. 18, the Tri-County school board will vote to decide if their district will join them.
According to a survey set to parents, students and staff by the school district, 66.7% of respondents support moving to a four-day school week, with 18.5% opposing the change and 14.8% stating they needed more information. 75.6% of respondents said they would prefer the day off to be on Friday, with 16.3% preferring Monday and 8.1% responding another day. A FAQ posted by the district argued that switching to a four-day week could lead to improved staff recruitment and retention, enhanced social-emotional well-being for students and staff, and more time for Professional Development. It also argued that it would give families longer weekends for trips, more time for appointments, opportunities to spend time with family, and more time for extracurricular activities.
A sample schedule shared by the district shows the 26/27 school year beginning on Aug. 24, students having Dec. 24-Jan. 3 off for winter break, and the final day of school being held on May 24. This schedule would give students 1087.5 hours in the classroom, just over the state minimum of 1080 hours. This sample schedule is not final and has not been approved yet.
The district had a special board meeting on Feb. 10, where Superintendent Chad Straight and the school board answered questions about the hypothetical change to a four-day week. Straight is also the superintendent of the Belle Plaine school district, which switched to a four-day week last year. He explained that he began looking into changing Tri-County to a four-day week two years ago, when looking into it as an option for Belle Plaine, but that they had held off for a few years, due to the district beginning sharing athletics with HLV. Straight stated that research showed that rural districts tend to do well with four-day weeks, although large urban districts tend to not do well.
Straight stated that he had spoken to many superintendents who had switched to a four-day week and that they all had daycare availability be the main concern of their communities. However, once the school year came around, this concern disappeared, with parents figuring out ways to find day care or have relatives take care of their children on Fridays. Straight stated that the same thing happened at Belle Plaine.
He stated that he recently sent a survey out to the Belle Plaine community, asking how they felt about the four-day week, and that 80% of respondents felt positive about the change. Only 10% of the comments Straight received were negative. He said most of them weren’t about anything major, instead complaining about things like the four-day week didn’t work with their schedule or that they would prefer Mondays off. Straight stated that his staff really liked the change and that some new hires had told him that they weren’t sure they could ever go back to a five-day week.
Straight stated that he believed switching to a four-day week would improve staff morale and lead more families to come to Tri-County. Straight explained that this change would not affect activities schedules. He stated that Belle Plaine began having an activities bus pick kids up on Fridays for regular time practices. He said that students had been overwhelmingly positive to the four-day week, which gives them time to do things like work jobs or go on college visits.
The sample schedule shows classes going from 8:00 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. Straight was asked how the later dismissal time would affect shared sports. He stated that the timing of the schedule was just a rough draft and that, for example, they could begin at 7:50 if they wanted. Straight said that, if kids have to leave early, then they would have to make sure they got their work done, or their teachers would have to accommodate them. He said that teachers could have materials like videos posted online so students who missed class time could look at them later.
Straight stated that the four-day week could benefit students taking college classes, by giving them more time to work on classwork on Fridays. He brought up the idea of starting a backpack program, similar to the one at Belle Plaine, where they work with local food pantries to send backpacks full of food home with students on the district’s free and reduced count. Straight stated that there might be some possible savings in transportation costs, but that this was not the primary reason they were considering the switch and that most districts hadn’t voiced that as a major benefit.
Straight was asked if enrollment had gone up at Belle Plaine, after making the switch. He stated that they hadn’t seen any increases in the first year, but that they had heard a lot of positive comments from people in communities around their district. Straight stated that they would continue to pay Tri-County’s current staff the same amount if the switch to a four-day week went through. He stated this would only apply to current employees, which could lead to possible savings later on.
Straight stated that they would be maxxing out their hours with the new schedule, meaning that, if there were enough snow days, they would have to make them up on Fridays. An attendee asked if they would do virtual days and Straight stated he wasn’t big on virtual days. An attendee asked about students that don’t have internet at home and if teachers would make sure to not expect internet be required for weekend homework. Straight stated he was unsure how many students didn’t have internet. He said they could look into putting Wi-Fi on busses so students can work on homework during bus rides.
Straight was asked if this would lead to academic improvement. He stated that the superintendents he had spoken to hadn’t seen any changes negatively or positively. He stated that the biggest improvements he had seen at Bell Plaine were to the mental health of students and staff. He noted that they would need to be sure to cover more material each day.
Methodist Pastor Brandi Meyer said that her church was planning to begin having youth group or Sunday School on Fridays, if the school switches to a four-day week. An attendee stated that he had heard that the Iowa legislature might ban four-day weeks. Straight explained that the Missouri government had passed a bill capping how many schools were allowed to have four-day weeks, which allowed schools that already had four-day weeks to continue, but banned any new schools. He stated he was concerned a similar bill may pass in Iowa.
