|
Power Point presentation in text-only format
Four-day week scheduling option
Some initial information
Tom Wheeler & Holly Harper
Why think about changing the schedule?
l A 4-day week with longer week days saves districts money.
l Whitehall School District is under-funded, and it will probably continue to be under-funded.
l Less money needs to be spent by the district, and this is one option
The rules of change:
l Instead of requiring 180 days, OPI has opened an option of 1080 instructional hours per year, grades 6-12, which doesn’t include lunch.
l The elementary requirement is 720 hours, which doesn’t include recesses or lunch.
Potential schedule:
l The hour/day combination that the administration is looking at favorably is 152 days, which results in days that are 1 hour longer than currently, 8-3:40. Staff works 15 minutes before and after student hours, and PIR days fall on Friday
l The wall poster is available for a better idea of how the calendar changes.
Where do the savings come from?
l Busses run one less day per week.
l Non-teaching staff expenses are less.
l Food service, custodial, substitutes
l Utilities
l Utility cost is difficult to predict because the school is used on the weekends by the community, and Fridays without school might result with increased community use.
Other motivation to think about schedule change
l Improved student and teacher health
l Increased student attendance K-12
l Increased teacher attendance, so far smaller substitute expense more efficient time use
l More consistent student days & weeks:
l no PIR days off, no Fri schedule, no 1pm out.
l More effective teacher collaboration time (more useful PIR days)
Non-fiscal school benefits
l Test scores either increase or hold steady in all age groups
l More academic content is covered due to concentration of contact time
l Staff recruiting becomes easier and retention increases
l Fridays are available for make-up work, extended athletic practices, PIR days for teachers
Benefits to the community
l Students have more time off, so miss fewer days: hunters, basketball tournament players, wrestlers
l More students available to work on Friday, learning skills and/or making money
l Staff can better supplement their school salaries by working
l Less gas miles on students vehicles, less gas
l More student volunteer time in community
Common concerns for elementary families:
l Can young students do the longer day successfully?
l Yes, with carefully thought-out snacks and breaks.
l Who will provide daycare on Friday?
l Some districts have provided daycare. Some high school students provide daycare. This is less of a hassle than most expect.
l Can teachers adjust to a different time frame?
l Most teachers support this schedule after experiencing it for a year.
Common questions in 6-12 families
l What about the length of day in addition to extracurricular activities?
l Wednesdays will have less practice time available
l Fridays, however, are open for academic help, academic back-work, extended athletic practices, etc.
l Will students get into trouble on Fridays?
l No, not according to the research from schools that have switched over.
Schools who have adopted the 4-day week
l Don’t change back
l Encounter far fewer problems that they expected
l Save money
l Are supported by the vast majority of parents, students, and staff.
Schools that have changed to 4-day schedules:
l In Montana: Victor Schools (06-07), Broadus Schools (07-08), Plevna (modified 06-07), etc. Others are looking at making the change.
l Many small rural schools in Arkansas, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho and South Dakota | 
