Four Day School Week

The concept of a four-day school week has been around for several decades. It originated in 1931 in Madison Central School District, Madison, South Dakota. The Cimarron School District in New Mexico implemented the four-day week in 1973 to lower energy costs. It is worth noting that some schools have adopted a schedule of Monday through Thursday, or Tuesday through Friday.

As of 2023, approximately 850 school districts across the United States have implemented a four-day school week. This is a significant increase from the 650 schools that adopted this schedule in 2020. This change has been observed in 26 states: Kentucky, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, Wyoming, Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, Minnesota, Arkansas, Alaska, Louisiana, Iowa, Utah, and Missouri. Interestingly, most of these changes have occurred in rural areas of the western United States.

Half of the U.S. states have at least one school with a four-day schedule. Currently, around 1,600 schools have adopted this schedule, with Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon, and South Dakota having the highest prevalence in 2018.

Out of the 51 independent school districts in Kentucky, only two have implemented a four-day school week schedule. The Jenkins Independent School District in Jenkins City, and the Webster County School District in Evansville, Kentucky both follow the four day week. Jenkins went to the four-day week in 2011 and used Webster County as its model.

There are some advantages to the four-day school week schedule. A study by Diana Lambert has shown that students have more time to rest and engage in activities with an expanded weekend. Moreover, the four-day schedule leads to modest cost savings, with the maximum savings for districts being 5.43%, while the average savings range from 0.4% to 2.5%. In addition, some studies have shown that students’ attendance has improved during the four-day school week, and there is also an improvement in employees’ work-life balance, including a decrease in incidents of bullying by approximately 31%.

Parents have expressed their various concerns, the least being the need to allocate food provisions for their children. Numerous studies have shown that reduced instructional hours in school can lead to lower grades due to the compressed schedule. Students who attend schools with shorter hours tend to have lower scores in English Language Arts and Math compared to those who attend schools with a traditional five-day schedule. In addition, a five-day schedule provides the best consistency and routine for the children, which is significant for their academic performance. However, the longer days associated with the four-day schedule can be difficult for younger students, making the schedule somewhat inequitable.

The idea of a four-day school schedule has its benefits and drawbacks. However, a question appears: ”How accurately does it support the needs of students and the school?” The four-day school week was implemented not just to save money and energy, but also to support the students. 

Overall, the four-day school schedule has positive and negative aspects. So, when considering whether the four-day school schedule would accurately support your needs, it is essential to weigh the benefits and drawbacks and make an informed decision.

  -Aubrey Andrade

News Writer