Tuesday, September 30, 2008 4:27 AM CDT4-day school week talked about in Iowa
The Associated Press DES MOINES — An increasing number of Iowa school officials want to shorten the school week to four days to reduce costs. The idea, which has caught on in other states, seems to have its biggest supporters in small districts, where enrollment has shrunk and budgets have been beaten by increasing fuel costs. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, school districts in 17 states operate on a four-day week. In most states where districts run on a four-day week, the length of the school day has increased from about 6½ hours to eight hours. Not everyone is sold on the idea of moving to longer days, four days a week. “I just think it would be too much for kids to stay focused long enough,” said Liz Henning a mother of two from Lehigh, which is in the Southeast Webster-Grand school district in northern Iowa. “I think five days is better.” While no formal study has been done in the U.S. on the effects of a shorter school week, officials in Arizona and Colorado say the shorter week has resulted in fewer absences by students and teachers. They also say it’s a good tool to recruit teachers. Districts in Arizona also report that change hasn’t affected student achievement, and that some districts have used the day off to offer tutoring students or teacher training. Heather Chikoore, a policy specialist with the National Conference of Legislatures, said state law gives districts the freedom to choose. According to the Southern Regional Education Association in Atlanta, schools in six states have moved to a four-day schedule in the past five years. Supporters in Iowa say the shorter school week could save tens of thousands of dollars. Officials in the Southeast Webster-Grand district discussed the option last week. Officials in the Davis County school district also are exploring the idea. Both districts have long bus routes, which are affected by rising fuel costs. “Being a rural district, we basically bus in 70 percent of our kids, so transportation is a big expense for us,” said Mike Jorgenson, superintendent of Southeast Webster-Grand. “Any time that we can shave 20 percent of our expenses in one of our larger expenditure categories, we have to take a look at it.” Officials with the Van Buren County school district also are interested and say they will ask state education officials for a waiver to the required school calendar, which says students should be in school at least 5½ hours a day and 180 days a year. Superintendent Karen Stinson said money isn’t the only reason. She said it would also allow students an extra day during the week to participate in job shadow programs, earn community college credit and other opportunities they may not have now. “We think we could do some really unique things,” Stinson said. Judy Jeffrey, director of the state education department, said she’s not sold on the four-day schedule. “There’s just a lot of pros and cons to it,” she said. “I think people have to think through all the implications, no just ’I need to save money on transportation.” Gov. Chet Culver also isn’t sure about the idea, said spokesman Troy Price. Price said Culver would want to “see evidence that it has maintained or improved educational excellence while actually saving energy costs.”