Sean C. Morgan
Parents and staff members packed the school disrict board room Monday night to let the District 55 School Board know they’re not interested in a four-day school week.
Last month, Supt. Don Schrader initiated a discussion with the board about the idea, and a committee spent the last month gathering information about the concept. The board will meet at 6 p.m. on Nov. 28 in a work session to discuss the idea further and consider more information.
Parents and staff raised numerous concerns about cutting Fridays from the class schedule.
Lisa Gourley, a classified employee of the district, told the board that she has petitions gathered from around the community opposing the four-day week.
She didn’t submit them to the board, she said, because there are still so many more petitions circulating.
In all of the canvassing she has done with the petition, she said that only three people refused to sign the petition. One of them asked her where to find it to sign it later.
“Listen to the community,” Gourley said. “And put the needs of the children first.”
Among the concerns raised were the longer school days, child care for parents who work, too much time off for students and the impact on special-needs students.
Students won’t get home till 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. – dinner time, said one parent.
“At 2 o’clock, it’s downtime already,” said Barbara Kragness. “We go till three. It’s just fill-in activities. Now it’ll be 2 to 4 is just filler. Sweet Home has great education. I want it to continue.”
Another parent explained that many students go hungry over the weekend. They’re helped through the Kids Food Pak program, but this will add a day they need help each week.
The district may think it’s saving on classified employees, said Deborah Maskal, a driver trainer with the district transportation department. If they lose that day of pay each week, many will have to look for new jobs. Some will start losing their homes.
“We have to do what’s best for the kids,” she said. “If you start weighing it, I think you’ll find more cons than pros with the four-day week.”
The list of high academic achievers will get shorter if the district moves to four days, Larry Angland said. “I think we’re just cutting our nose off to spite our face here.”
Shea Sitton, who works at the high school, suggested an additional four furlough days next year as an alternative, while a parent told the board that his research shows the four-day week would save 3 percent.
“Three percent will be good if we can get that,” Schrader said. “That’s over a half million dollars.”
Based on a budget report by Business Manager Kevin Strong, the district could be looking at a shortfall of up to $1.5 million next year. That assumes no furlough days and no spending from the district’s reserves and accounts for declining revenues and enrollments.
The concerns and questions were good, said Chairman Jason Redick. Board members indicated they have similar concerns and questions.
In a presentation, Schrader listed numerous benefits, from financial savings, improved attendance and improved behavior to more time for teacher planning, less interruption for athletics and often academic improvement.
A four-day school week could save programs and jobs through its savings, he said.
Drawbacks include a longer day, lost wages, childcare, less time after school for activities, loss of access to the breakfast and lunch program and more, Schrader said. Some say it can lead to regression problems in the classroom as children take three days off from school.
But he cited several studies and sources that indicate no adverse effects from switching to the shorter week.
Actual instructional time would increase slightly in elementary schools and the junior high while remaining about the same at the high school, Schrader said. Teachers would work fewer days, but they would work longer hours, putting in just as many as they do now.
Teachers and parents have a variety of options for what they can do with Fridays too. While teachers will have 19 in-service days, up from nine, they also have more time for preparation, Schrader said. Students can take home extra work, have a reading day or study through the free online Khan Academy.
Schrader said Glide went to the four-day week in 1997. He was a parent then and did not yet work for the district.
“Community support was high after a few months,” he said. He changed his mind after experiencing the four-day week too. Student achievement improved significantly. “It’s because of what we were able to do on Fridays – staff development.”
A few years later, the Glide board tried to return the district to a five-day week, Schrader said. The community circulated a petition and recalled the four board members who voted to switch it back.
The district has other options, he said, including layoffs, cutting programs, contracting out for some services, increasing class sizes and furlough days.
Furlough days are a last resort, he said. Furlough days do reduce instructional time.
The problems are big enough, Schrader said, that even with a four-day week, the district will have to look at other options to save money as well.
“I guess there’s no good decision,” said board member Mike E. Adams. “We kind of cut to the bone last year. It’s kind of picking the best of bad decisions.”
He told Schrader he would like to see more information on other cost-saving options, such as restructuring administration.
“I’m going to withhold judgment on the four-day school week,” Adams said. “I think we just need to do what has the least impact on kids.”
Board member David VanDerlip said he wanted to make sure the district does everything it can to maximize responses to community, staff and parent surveys.
“I think we really need to go out of our way to really listen to what they have to say,” VanDerlip said. He also wanted to hear from employees. “I hear a lot of opposition to the four-day week.”
Board member Chanz Keeney was concerned about how permanent the change might be, he said. “I know the revenue will come back. It’s just when. What do we do when it does come back?”
“One way or another, we’ve got to make these cuts,” Redick said. “None of these cuts are good for kids.”
The question is which cuts have the least impact to the students, he said.
Present at the meeting were Adams, Keeney, VanDerlip, Redick, Dale Keene, Billie Weber, Jenny Daniels and Kevin Burger. Mike Reynolds was absent.