At a packed meeting last Monday evening, the Alliance School Board took action to approve a four-day school week beginning in the 2024-25 school year for students and teachers in the district.
Discussion on the topic kicked off with two public comments offered by Chelsie Herian and Karen Benzel. Herian offered support for the four-day week, noting it would offer her students a chance to miss less time in the classroom due to activities.
“I’m pleased to see that it’s back on the agenda so we can discuss it,” said Herian. “I hope that everyone has, since the spring meeting, checked on the items of concern for parents and everybody. With my oldest very active in athletics, missing a lot of classroom time for those, granted it’s not been an issue for him, I guess I would lean more towards considering a four-day school week.”
Next, Benzel cited research into the issue, noting that four-day school weeks have led to increased staff turnover and decreased student achievement. She encouraged the board to not make the decision lightly and to focus on the students.
“All the research I could find, and again, I just went into it just seeing, ‘Hey, what can I find?’, was showing that there is higher teacher turnover, and higher absentee rates,” Benzel said. “Some practical concerns to think about as you guys are thinking of potentially implementing this is what do the longer school days look like for the students. Is this student focused? Are we looking for the best outcome for the students? If we look and if it goes to a four-days, and it’s a longer day period, and now they’re looking at 1.25 lessons per day versus one period per day, especially those high school students. When are they going to complete the homework?”
She asked the board to consider students taking part in athletics and activities, and how their schedules would be affected by the longer days. She cited the activities calendar, noting that no matter which day was chosen to be eliminated, students in activities would still be missing time in the classroom because of those activities. She also noted that those families with fewer resources would likely be impacted by having one fewer day.
“I see right now, the Bulldog Backpack Program, they’re sending those sack lunches home for kids, who’s going to pick up that gap, and I know it’s not the school’s responsibility, necessarily, but right now, those kids get five days that they have breakfast and lunch taken care of,” said Benzel. “So, I think that’s a consideration, because the Bulldog Backpack Program is stressed with the increase in prices and the increase in kids they’re caring for.”
Other concerns Benzel raised were healthcare and other appointments, where students would have to miss time in the classroom because providers may not be available on the day school is out; timing of IEP meetings for teachers and parents; and childcare.
School Board Member Tim Richey kicked off the discussion of the topic for the board. He said he contacted school principals about the topic, as well as administrators and school board members in districts that have implemented a four-day school week, noting that, on the whole, he received positive feedback about implementing a four-day school week at Alliance Public Schools. He said that districts that have implemented the four-day school week have had better options for recruitment of teachers. As far as drawbacks to implementing the four-day school week, Richey said he read some studies in which scores did decrease, but he noted that decrease could be caused by a number of factors from family issues to problems in the classroom environment.
“As a district, and I think I told each one of you when I stepped down, I said my number one is students first and teachers second,” said Richey. “I’m not doing this for the benefit of the teachers. I’m doing this if there’s a benefit to the kids. And, if that benefit means that we have more teachers in the building to provide that environment for the kids so that they learn, then you know what, I think that’s a win-win.”
Richey said that based on the proposal, the implementation of a four-day school week would increase the day by 20 minutes, and lengthen the calendar year. Based on one of his discussions, Richey said that some districts provide an opportunity for students to meet with teachers on Fridays, with teachers required to be in the building one Friday a month to tutor students.
School Board Member Shana Brown said that the four-day school week could be a benefit to the district, but noted it would be important to track the data from the implementation to determine its level of success.
“That was my big concern, I didn’t want to do anything the staff didn’t think was functional or that wouldn’t work, that was my primary concern, and it sounds like that isn’t an issue,” said Brown. “My other caveat is going to be, and we talked about this, too, is I want, we need to make sure we track that data and keep an eye on that. I know that nobody in this building is going to be like, ‘We don’t care if those scores go down.’ Everyone in here is passionate about that. We wouldn’t let that happen anyway.”
School Board Member Jake Sylvester said he believes it is time to try something different, noting he has faith in the building heads and teachers to be able to accomplish a four-day school week. He said that they need to revisit it every year to assess whether it is successful.
“I’m tired of treading water, we need to move forward,” Sylvester said.
School Board Member Edison Red Nest III said it will take everybody’s involvement to make sure that a four-day school week works.
“What if it works really well, and it just improves everything,” said Red Nest.
School Board President Tim Kollars shared a dissenting view, citing his research into the matter that has shown a decrease in student performance.
“One of the major issues that they have seen is a decrease in performance in math and reading especially, which is two of the most important subjects as far as I’m concerned,” said Kollars. “The other thing that they’ve seen with that decrease, it is very much tainted toward the low-income and the minority students. They don’t do as well in that learning environment according to all of these research studies that I went looking up. I’m sorry, I didn’t talk to all you guys (principals and administration) to figure out what you wanted, I just wanted to see the research on it.”
Kollars noted that studies have shown that students have to be in school at least 31 ½ hours a week, anything less would result in decreased performance. Kollars noted that would require eight-hour school days, which he believes are too much for students.
He said another factor to consider is that teacher contracts are based on 185 days, which, with a four-day week, he said would lead to decreased compensation for teachers.
“I see no up side to this,” said Kollars. “This isn’t just my opinion. I went and studied it, because I don’t have any kids in school, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m here because I got on this school board 20 years ago to try to make the kids have a better education, and I’ve failed a lot, but I’m still trying. And I do not think that a four-day school week, with the extended hours that it’s going to have to be to get the time they need in to be legitimate.”
School Board Member Dave Rischling said that he is with Kollars, noting from a teaching perspective his concern is for the band show on Friday night, and if they are unable to practice ahead of time that day, it could lead to issues.
Richey responded to Rischling that the band students practice outside of school hours already, and that a four-day school week would not prohibit their practice. Richey also said he would not pursue a four-day school week if it affects teacher compensation.
Student School Board Member Emily McCune offered a student perspective, noting that her concern would come down to focus for students in the classroom, and for students weighing academics versus other priorities on that day off.
“When you have that day off, we fill it with other things because we’re not seeing it as an obligation to keep up with that school work,” said McCune. “Now it’s an, ‘Oh, I have eight hours to do something else, I can fit other stuff in.’ So, if we’re not only lengthening the school day, but students are fitting other things in, where does the crack break? Is it going to be our academics that fall because we’re pushing too much, and we’re not setting a standard time for everyone to get their education in, or is it going to be that they focus on other priorities because now we have an extra day to do it? I don’t see it working as a student even at the high school or through my elementary years.”
When asked to provide input on the matter, Superintendent Dr. Troy Unzicker emphasized that the focus when it comes to making a decision on the matter needs to be on the academics.
“One concern I have is not one person said this is a good move to increase academics,” said Unzicker. “Every talk has been how are we going to save what we’re doing. That scares me. Academics should be top priority for us.”
After some further discussion involving principals, Brown moved to approve a four-day school week in the 2024-25 school year, a motion that was seconded by Red Nest. Kollars and Rischling voted against the motion and the other board members voted to approve it.