Twenty-seven Iowa school districts operated on a four-day week in the past year and officials in a southwest Iowa school district are exploring the idea.
“I think exploring is the key word,” said Essex Community Schools Superintendent Gregg Cruickshank. “I think there’s a lot that goes into this in terms of weighing all the factors as far as reasons to do it, reasons to continue with the five-day week, many aspects to this as far as the operation of the school district and most importantly the education of our children.”
Last night, Cruickshank shared information with the Essex School Board about Stanton’s experience with a four-day week. During an interview this morning, Cruickshank said some school districts that have switched to a four-day week saw applications for open positions increase. “The teacher shortage and staff shortage in general is acute in small schools and large schools across the state of Iowa,” Cruickshank said. “That may be a consideration.”
Cruickshank indicated there many things to consider, including how students get to athletic practices and other extracurricular events on the weekday when classes are not in session. State records indicate 178 students were enrolled in Essex schools last fall. Cruickshank said he and other school district officials will be surveying parents, students, staff and the community about a four-day week.”Gathering data both in a formal way but also listening in a more informal matter through some direct conversations,” Cruickshank said. “If we think it has a possibility, we’ll have a community input meeting or meetings where people can actually express their veiews, maybe actually a special board meeting down the road where the topic will be getting input from the public on a four-day calendar, a four-day week.”
The River Valley School District in Correctionville will switch to a four-day week this fall. Iowa law no longer measures the length of a school year in days, but requires public districts to operate for at least 1080 hours each academic year — which gives schools the option to operate on a four-day week.
(By Mike Peterson, KMA, Shenandoah/O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa)