The Hot Springs School District recently approved a plan to adopt a four-day school week starting next year, according to the Thermopolis Independent Record. That followed a teacher survey that found 69% approved of the idea.
That’s helpful, since one big reason districts are going this route is to help retain and recruit teachers. Four day school weeks are popular with parents, too.
These days, over half of Wyoming’s school districts have adopted a four-day week for students.
Mark Mathern, chair of the Wyoming State Board of Education, said many students miss school on Fridays for sports and other activities anyway. Plus, it gives students who need extra study time a day to catch up.
“Maybe they're working Monday through Thursday in just regular class. On Friday, students that are struggling or behind or need some additional support maybe would come in in the morning on Friday and there would be one-on-one time. Some people call it WIN time – ‘what I need’ time,” he said.
Fridays could also be used by teachers for professional development or to catch up on grading, making teacher workflow more manageable.
Schools also like the idea of reducing the costs of running a school.
”You have maybe one day fewer bus activities, maybe one day less of cleaning, maybe one day fewer electrical costs,” Mathern said. “Most of the costs of education are connected with personnel, so there might be some savings. Maybe the janitors or the cooks or whatever, they're not showing up that one day.”
But there are some downsides to the four-day school week. Last year, a multistate report that included Wyoming showed significantly lower reading and math skills in kids who only attend school four days a week, even if they are getting the same number of learning hours. However, the report found that the issue wasn’t as pronounced in rural students.
Parents also might have to pay for more childcare to cover that missed day of school, and some children who deal with hunger at home rely on school lunches. Mathern said communities might have to step up to fill those gaps and that’s why it’s so important to have several public meetings to discuss the pros and cons.
Mathern said the department offers guidance on how districts can transition to four days. For instance, schools have to host two public outreach meetings and train teachers how to adjust their curriculum.
“You can't just say, ‘Well, now instead of 20 minutes to do your homework for tomorrow, you now have 35 minutes or 40 minutes.’ That doesn't cut it,” Mathern said.
Mathern said he feels like the trend is a positive one for Wyoming education.
“ I do think it's a good sign, in that [school districts are] looking for ways to engage students and those ways require a rethinking of the traditional classroom. And if the state board can help with that by providing ways to remove barriers around certain kinds of rules, we want to be helpful with that,” he said.
Of the 48 school districts in Wyoming, 26 now have four day school weeks.
