Four day school weeks is also increasingly common among rural districts. Most of the districts in my region (Colorado’s Arkansas Valley are now four day.Ken wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 4:09 pm
Moving to a 4-day work week was 100% a money-saving measure at the expense of students, nothing more. Keeping the school closed an extra day each week saves on all the classified hourly staff like cafeteria staff, custodians, bus drivers, etc. as well as utilities.
While the three day weekend is nice, the four day week also presents its own challenges. We have longer school days and longer class period. Trying to manage a 55 minute class period and keep the students busy the entire time is a challenge for this rookie.And for remote rural districts like Marlin it lets them keep teacher salaries lower because it is easier to attract teachers commuting in from outside the area if they only have to drive in to Marlin 4 days a week instead of 5 and get a 3-day weekend every week. Otherwise they would have to raise salaries higher to keep pace with surrounding suburban districts that pay more.
My district is actually in the process of raising salaries to compete with other local districts. There's been a lot of turnover because of the teacher shortage and that I work in a "hard district" because of student behavior.
It's not just that these homes are less "educationally productive." It's often that these homes are dysfunctional. I have students that don't have heat at or home or enough to eat. I have students who are neglected and don't feel safe at home. I have students who dread summer vacation because school is their safe place.Especially in poor and underprivileged districts where home-time is likely to be less educationally productive.