Here's the Analysis of the HB 1292

Hey all, hope you're having a great WASL week. I found this information on the site that Casey linked below. There's some great data. Here's the link if you want the original info.
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2009-10/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/House/1292%20HBA%20ED%2009.pdf

The Four-Day School Week
The vast majority of the nation's schools operate on a five day school week. It is estimated, however, that about 100 school districts in 17 states have implemented a four-day school week.
Most of these are small school districts in rural, sparsely populated areas in which the students
face long commutes. In the 1970's during the energy crisis, New Mexico became the first state
to allow a four-day school week. Today, there are four-day school weeks in at least some
schools in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Michigan, Oregon, South Dakota,
Wisconsin, Wyoming, Louisiana, Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Idaho, Minnesota, Nebraska,
and Utah.
The decision to go to a four-day school week has generally been predicated on grounds of
efficiency and economy. It has been estimated that if school buildings are actually closed on the
fifth day, savings of up to 20% can be realized with respect to expenses such as fuel, food,
utilities, and perhaps wages of hourly workers. If the buildings remain open, however, the
savings are less.
An August 2008 Focus article for the Southern Regional Education Board lists the following
potential benefits and challenges of a four-day school week:

Potential Benefits (these would be great Affirmative "yellows")

• Savings on fuel, food, utilities, and the salaries of workers
• Longer blocks of time available to complete lessons such as science labs
• Use of the unscheduled day for professional development, planning, tutoring, special programs, or to make up lost days due to inclement weather or other disruptions to the regular schedule
• istrict's use of the scheduled day to plan athletic events, limiting disruptions to normal instructional time
• Students (particularly in sparsely populated areas) having fewer long commutes
• Lower absenteeism of students and teachers
• Fewer substitutes needed because teachers can schedule appointments on unscheduled days
• Students generally arriving home at the same time as their parents, diminishing the need for afterschool child care and supervision
  

Potential Challenges (these would be great Negative "yellows")

• Collective bargaining
• Unpopularity of reduced salaries for cafeteria workers and bus drivers
• Child care and supervision of students on the unscheduled day
• Length of day for younger students, particularly when long commutes are involved
• The extended focus required of students during the longer day
• Student safety during winter months when daylight hours are fewer
• Twenty percent more instructional time lost when a student or teacher misses a day
• Impact on extracurricular activities and their schedules
• Teacher preparation for the change in schedule to assure the maximum use of instructional
  time
• Difficulties with students (especially at-risk and special needs students) retaining subject
  matter during the extra day of
• The need to run utilities during the unscheduled day to prevent mold due to heat and humidity, thereby offsetting savings
• The perception of "giving a day off," although instructional time is the same or greater