By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review
THORNBURG – Next year, Tri-County Community School District will move to a four-day a week schedule, something Superintendent Chad Straight hopes will improve staff recruitment and retention and improve the morale of students and staff. The school board unanimously approved this change during the Feb. 18 board meeting, following a brief discussion. Prior to the vote, Straight brought up the fact that the switch had received 66.7% approval on an online survey the district sent out, compared to 18.5% disapproval and 14.6% unsure. He stated that he had not received any negative comments during or after the Feb. 10 special meeting they held to discuss the change with the community. Board member Jacob Edmundson stated people don’t know what to think about the four-day week, but that they could try and go back to a standard schedule if it doesn’t work.
Board member Derek Hall asked when the school day would start. Straight stated that this was still up for discussion and that the sample schedule, which showed the day going from 8:00 a.m. to 3:35 p.m., was just a sample. He stated that they could start at 7:50, which staff would prefer and could help with activities at the end of the day. Hall asked if this would affect how much elementary recess time students received. Straight stated that he thought they would keep it at the current single 30 minute recess and add more educational time. Principal Jennifer Berg stated that they had considered having another ten minute recess in the past, but that due to the demands of curriculum, they didn’t have a lot of wiggle room in the schedule. Board member Heather Schmidt stated that teachers would have to teach a little differently and keep kids engaged with the longer school days. Straight stated that education had changed a lot since he was a kid and that students moved around a lot more in the classroom now.
Schmidt stated that she had only heard positive or uncertain comments, nothing negative. She noted that she had heard concerns over food insecurity, which they can handle with a backpack program, daycare problems, which worked itself out at Belle Plaine, and sharing activities with HLV, which they can overcome. She stated she didn’t see any reason not to move forward with a four-day week.
