Four-Day School Week Not Possible Until ‘25-‘26 School Year

Coming on the heels of last week’s public forum hosted at Alliance High School regarding the possibility of implementing a four-day school week at Alliance Public Schools, APS Superintendent Dr. Troy Unzicker notified officials via email on Monday afternoon that it is unlikely for the district to be able to have a four-day school week in the 2024-2025 school year, even if the Alliance School Board were to approve it.

Unzicker shared in the email that the trouble arises from the food-service company and the process behind attaining a new agreement if the board were to approve the four-day school week.

“It appears we are unable to transition to a 4 day school week (if that is what the board were to approve) without going to a Request For Proposal (RFP) with the food service company,” Unzicker said in the email. “The tie-ins with federal dollars and the possibility of selecting a new company with the RFP leaves the timeline out of requirement for a fall implementation. We are also out of compliance, since it is a substantial change, in trying to negotiate directly with the food service company.”

Unzicker closed the email, noting that the status of the four-day school week schedule would remain on hold until the school board is ready to tackle the issue, with the 2025-26 school year as the soonest it could be implemented.

The Alliance Times-Herald will share more information discussed at the public forum in next week’s edition.