The 4-day School Week: An Insider's View

Small rural school districts are often looking for every extra penny to provide the most resources to their students on a very limited budget. In 1998, the Corbett School District in Oregon began discussing the idea of a 4-day school week to save money.

In theory, the 4-day school week should save on transportation costs, utilities, staffing, maintenance, etc. The leadership team visited other school districts who had already implemented a 4-day school week to learn about their calendar and processes.

They invited representatives from those districts to present at school board meetings. Community input was solicited through discussions at multiple school board meetings and surveys. One survey in particular focused on whether the “day off” should be Monday or Friday. Friday was the overwhelming choice. 

It didn’t take very long for the community and school district to decide to move forward with the 4-day school week, which was implemented in the Fall of 1999.

One of the greatest concerns was childcare on Fridays, especially for the younger students. The school district partnered with the local community church to offer daycare on Fridays. Immediately after implementation, the staff fully supported the change, and by November, the families were all in. There was no turning back. 

Benefits

The main reason districts begin investigating the feasibility of the 4-day school week is financial benefit. The next paragraph will cover this in more depth. There are many non-financial benefits to the 4-day school week, though. I have found it much easier to recruit and retain staff members. Most of my new staff members tell me they first looked into working in my district because of the 4-day week. Many of my current staff have told me that the 4-day week is one of the major reasons they would never consider leaving.

Attendance for staff and students is better due to the ability to schedule appointments on Fridays and not miss school. We are able to use Fridays for Inservice Days without affecting the student calendar, which leads to a more consistent schedule. Each week is a 4-day week. If there is no school on Monday, we have Friday school for a consistent 4-day week.

This is most beneficial for the high school on an 8-period block schedule (every Monday is 1-4, Tuesday 5-8, Wednesday 1-4, …). Additionally, our high school uses Fridays for credit retrieval and intervention opportunities for students, which aids in our 98% graduation rate.

All of these benefits have definitely led to higher morale for staff and students. Now, as years pass, and the 4-day week becomes part of the culture, there is a rate of diminishing returns on morale.

Does It Actually Save $? 

The short answer is: Yes. In theory, transportation, utilities, maintenance, staffing and substitute costs should decrease by about 20% with one less school day each week.

In reality, since transportation is reimbursed in most states to some extent, that savings is less than expected. Even though school is not in session on Fridays, people and groups are still using the buildings for sports, activities, tutoring, so the utilities are still being used. There is a small savings on the pay of hourly employees, but salary employees, like teachers and administrators, provide no savings.

Challenges

There is some research that will show a negative impact on student learning. I have not witnessed this in Corbett, which remains one of the top ranked districts in Oregon. The 4-day week may create an equity gap with families who may rely on school breakfast and lunch or can’t afford daycare on Fridays. A longer school day is inherent with a 4-day week, but causes challenges with extracurricular activities. Practices and meetings begin later, and thus end later, usually around 6:00. The greatest challenge is our athletes miss at least two hours of instructional time for each away event on school days, since surrounding schools end much earlier. We need to be very deliberate when creating student class schedules. 

Recommendations

The 4-day school week is great and definitely worth exploring. When I interviewed with my school board for this position, I asked them, “What is one thing I cannot change in the Corbett SD?” They immediately responded with the 4-day school week.

If you decide that the 4-day week might be just what your district has been looking for, I have a few suggestions:

• Be sure to start the process early and communicate often.
• Provide plenty of opportunities for community and staff input.
• Visit districts who are implementing successfully, and ask them to present at school board meetings.
• Commit to a 4-day week every week, and seriously consider Mondays off instead of Fridays.

Fridays off are losing the benefit as more businesses and offices are moving to Fridays off. Also, more holidays fall on Monday, so there would be less calendar adjustments and more consistency. 

In my experience, the benefits of the 4-day school week definitely outweigh the challenges.