North Callaway switching to 4-day week

North Callaway R-1 Board of Education member Jenny Bondurant asks a question during a meeting.
North Callaway R-1 Board of Education member Jenny Bondurant asks a question during a meeting.

What if every weekend was a three-day weekend?

For school children, it sounds like a dream come true.

In May, North Callaway's 2,100 students will join 18 other school districts in Missouri in switching to a four-day week, according to a news release sent by Superintendent Bryan Thomsen.

"Over the past eight years, the state of Missouri has decreased the amount of state funding for our schools," Thomsen said. "Without a decrease in expenditures or an increase in revenue, we will be required to make additional adjustments that will have a negative impact on our schools."

Under the new plan, students will have off every Monday. On Tuesdays through Fridays, school will last about 35 minutes longer than it currently does to meet the state minimum of 1,044 instructional hours per school year. State legislation also requires that if the school's performance drops below the standard in two categories for two successive years, it must return to a five-day week.

While the root cause may be budget cuts - the switch is predicted to save about $100,000 annually - a four-day week might have other benefits.

"We looked at four factors throughout this process: The impact on student achievement, the financial impact, was it a good fit for our community and the impact on staff recruitment and retention," Thomsen said. 

An extra day off per week means more time to prepare lessons and grade assignments for teachers, and more time to work on homework. 

In one district in Georgia, moving to a four-day week led to a 40 percent decrease in discipline issues, perhaps as a result of decreased stress.

Studies on the effect of four-day weeks on student learning are few. However, one 2015 study by Georgia and Montana state universities looked specifically at rural elementary schools with four-day weeks. It found scores in math improved slightly, while reading scores held steady.

"Based on our situation and our research a combination of both a levy increase and a four-day school week would put us in the best position to provide the best educational experience for all our students and families," Thomsen said.

The school initially floated a four-day school week to parents with two surveys in 2011 and 2012. By 2012, about 84 percent of parents supported the idea. A more-recent survey conducted by the school showed about 66 percent supporting the change and 21 percent undecided.