Impacts of the Four-day School Week

Bryan Lords

Rachel Savage, Superintendent, Melissa Ellico, business manager, Justan Rice, director of special services, and Bryan Lords, principal, discussed using a four-day school week in order to overcome budgetary shortfalls and minimize cuts to programs and positions. The team discusses what they have learned over the last six years.

 Challenges included:

• During the last hour of longer days students became restless and disengaged
• Studies show this model may negatively impact students from low-income neighborhoods or special needs students
• Childcare for working parents
•  Increased training for teachers in order to adapt to the four-day model 

Benefits included:

• Improvement of staff and student attendance
• Budgetary savings with daily operations
• Budgetary savings with staff salaries going from 40 hours to 32 hour work week
• Positive impact on staff morale and job satisfaction

The team shared a PowerPoint presentation with the positive and negative data from budgetary savings, attendance for staff and students, academic achievement, stakeholder perceptions, and athletic and extra curricular activities. For more information regarding the data gathered, contact Bryan Lords at blords@wusd2.org

Emily Broome

Isaac School District #5