Four-day school week set to continue

Swapping to a four-day week appears to have been a successful transition for Crook County School District but, before committing to the new schedule for two more years, Superintendent Mark Broderson wanted to make sure the district’s stakeholders are still on board.

He did this by issuing surveys to the staff, parents and high school students, asking each group for their thoughts on how school life has changed since the four-day week was introduced. Surveys were issued just a few weeks into the first semester and then repeated at the end of the second quarter.

In all three groups, the response to the most recent survey has been overwhelmingly positive.

Staff

The most telling response from staff members, says Broderson, can be seen in the question that asks them whether the four-day week model should be used again next year. Of the 135 staff members who answered, 115 agreed and only seven disagreed (thirteen respondents did not feel either way).

Almost 70 percent of staff members feel they have adequate time for planning, according to the survey, and below six percent feel the change has hindered their teaching. Almost half of staff members feel the climate of their building has improved and over 60 percent agree that staff morale has improved.

Just under 70 percent of staff members feel they miss fewer days under the new schedule, something that appears to be backed up by statistics on the number of teaching days covered by substitutes.

“A year ago at the end of the first semester we had 819 days. This year at the end of the first semester, we had 647,” he says. “This tells me that we have more teachers spending time in the classroom, and if you look at the teacher surveys they will tell you that they’re not missing as many days as they did before because now they’re using Fridays.”

Over 70 percent of staff members feel the change has been positive overall for education and almost three quarters of those who have seen modifications to their own schedule say they are enjoying them.

All staff members were given the opportunity to respond, both certified and classified. Before the transition to a four-day week, says Broderson, some of the most commonly expressed concerns came from the classified employees, which includes such staff members as bus drivers, custodians and cooks, on the basis that losing a day could mean losing a portion of their income.

“The classified staff did have a chance to answer this and it did come back favorable, so it’s not just the teachers talking here,” he says.

Students

“This was only filled out by high school kids,” Broderson says, noting that there may also be some junior high students in the mix.

Again, support for the new schedule was remarkably strong, with 281 students agreeing they like the four-day week – and 207 of those ticking the “strongly agree” box. Conversely, only 21 students feel they do not like the new structure.

“It’s a change in pace,” Broderson says. “I do think it refreshes people when they get to change their routines.”

A significant number of students (103 in total) did not express an opinion on whether they have used the “purple Fridays” scheduled once per month, during which they can come into school and work with teachers. An additional 66 said they had not used them.

This isn’t a surprise, Broderson says, partly because some students may not have had opportunity or need yet and partly because the survey was restricted to high schoolers, who may not be as excited to come to school as their younger counterparts.

“Elementary kids have a ton of kids come in on ‘purple Fridays’ because it’s a fun day for them. They do enrichment stuff, they cook, they do all kinds of things,” he says.

Meanwhile, the four-day week was largely proposed to address the problem of Fridays being a difficult day for learning, as so many students are participating in activities. A number of those who are not making use of the extra instruction time, he says, are doing sports, band and other extra-curriculars.

Three quarters of the students who responded feel their interaction with staff and their peers is positive and a similar number say they can complete their homework in a reasonable amount of time. Over 70 percent say their attendance is better this year – and nearly 60 percent say their grades have improved.

Almost 75 percent of respondents prefer the longer school days to school on a Friday and say they enjoy school more in the four-day structure. Four out of five students believe they receive a quality education.

Broderson notes that students received 13 percent fewer “F” grades last semester than at the end of the same semester last year. It could be an anomaly, he says, but, “It’s a positive trend.”

Parents

The third survey was sent to parents and, again, shows strong support for the four-day week.

“The most telling question is: ‘the four day week should be used again next year’,” Broderson says.

A total of 198 parents and guardians agree with the statement, while only 31 disagree. This may seem surprising, considering that one of the biggest concerns going into the four-day week had been the change in routine and potential lack of childcare, especially for working parents.

However, the survey also asked whether it is difficult to find useful and interesting activities for kids to do on Fridays and the response was an overwhelming “no”. A total of 183 parents do not feel it is difficult, while only 39 say they do.

“There are some out there, but I haven’t heard a lot,” says Broderson of the parents still experiencing issues with childcare on Fridays.

Almost 70 percent of parents believe their child is enjoying school more under the new schedule and 60 percent have no concerns about homework. Four out of five parents say their children have adapted well to the change and 85 percent believe their child continues to receive a quality education.

Overall, 75 percent of parents feel the four-day week has been a positive change for their family.

Future Plans

Broderson is not sure whether he should be surprised by the strong support for the four-day week. While he anticipated there would be issues to solve and knew there would be some families negatively impacted, it was also a move he proposed in the first place after seeing it work well in other districts.

It helps, he says, that most stakeholders were on board before the change was made.

“When I went around and met with the communities, of the people who came and listened, the majority were in favor of it,” he says.

Broderson believes there are some who have changed their minds.

“I have had teachers who have said, I didn’t like it and now I’m in favor of it,” he says.

It’s impossible for a schedule to suit everyone, Broderson says, so it was important to go with the plan that would work for the majority. Even so, he says the negative comments have been taken on board.

“I don’t want [respondents] to think that just because they put that they don’t like it, we’re not listening to them,” he says. “There’s a reason we’re continuing to do this and it’s not because we’re not listening – it’s that most of the parents, most of the students and most of the staff like it.”

The district polled its stakeholders because the state requires the calendars for next year be ready in February, says Broderson, and input was important in deciding whether to continue the four-day week.

“We have to have our calendar for next year sent into the state to be approved in February so I have to make sure we’re doing what everybody wants us to do,” he says. “Now that we’ve done one year and it has been well received, we’re going to do the next two years and send that for approval to the state.”

Based on the feedback from the survey, Broderson says the structure of the calendar over the next two years will not be changing from the current year.