The Performing Arts Center at Alliance High School filled with people on April 24 as people came to learn more about the possibility of Alliance Public Schools switching to a four-day week and to share their input.
APS Superintendent Dr. Troy Unzicker opened the forum by explaining how the topic came to be, noting that he was approached by a school board member roughly a year ago about the possibility of implementing a four-day week at Alliance Public Schools. He said the topic came up again within the past few months, which is when they began looking at the prospect.
“Nationally, a four-day school week is really catching fire,” said Unzicker. “It’s growing exponentially. Nebraska has a little bit slower growth. So, not so fast in Nebraska, although I think that’s coming.”
The notion behind the four-day week, Unzicker explained, is to aid in teacher retention and recruitment. He emphasized that the implementation of the four-day school week has not been voted on by the school board and that they are still researching the possibility of implementing the schedule and how it would impact operations. He cited the struggles to fill staff positions, noting the importance of finding a way to recruit more teachers and staff to lessen the burden.
“We had five positions in the current school year that we were unable to fill,” Unzicker said. “No applications, which puts a burden on the rest of the staff covering those positions. This year, when we began that process, we still had 11 positions open, and we still have quite a few, but we’re down a bit from that.”
Unzicker explained that in order to implement the change for the 2024-25 school year, the board would have to act in May in order to allow the time needed to make changes to the school calendar. On April 29, Unzicker released an email regarding the four-day week, noting that due to the requirements for requesting proposals for food service providers, it would not be possible to implement a four-day week in the 2024-25 school year. He said it would be on hold until the board is ready to address it, with the 2025-26 school year being the soonest the change could be implemented.
At the forum, Unzicker said that they have reviewed research about the four-day week and how its implementation at other schools has affected students, teachers and staff. He said that he did not see a negative impact on academics, but emphasized that it is crucial for the district to do what is best for Alliance.
Unzicker explained that he does not forecast any monetary savings to the district from shifting to a four-day week, though he noted other possible benefits, including possible improvements to student attendance, teacher attendance and school climate.
“We are not doing this for money reasons,” said Unzicker. “Actually, I do not forecast any savings in money by going to a four-day school week. Money is not the issue. So far, we still have a strong reserve, and able to pay the bills without loans. We do have two loans, I have them projected to pay off in the year 2025, which, by the way, when I got here, was originally supposed to be the year 2041, so we’ve saved tons of interest money. Nobody is being cut, nobody is losing money.”
Achievement, Unzicker said, is his primary concern, noting he would not be in favor of a four-day school week if it would negatively impact academics. He also cited meals for students as a concern in the district, noting a large number of free and reduced lunches and a high poverty rate. He said that they would need to make plans on how to provide meals to the students on the day that the school would be off.
In order to meet the requirements for school hours, the district, if it were to implement a four-day week, would have to either extend the length of the day, or extend the school year, Unzicker said. He also noted that there would be minimal breaks, with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and that there would be limited room for snow days. Teachers would also likely be scheduled to have professional-development days to make up for the time.
After sharing more information with the audience, Unzicker invited the audience to ask questions and to share their input. The Alliance Times-Herald will have more on this story in next week’s edition.