High School Notes

More States Consider 4-Day Weeks

May 19, 2011 RSS Feed Print

Comment (3)
Tweet

With states looking to balance budgets, more school districts are considering switching to four-day school weeks.

About one fourth of South Dakota's school districts will operate four-day weeks next fall. In California, Gov. Jerry Brown said the 180-day school year could be cut by up to five weeks.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, an organization that helps inform state lawmakers about legislation around the country, more than 120 districts in 20 states currently operate schools four days a week.

Reducing school weeks to four days would save money on transportation costs. With gas prices at record highs, such a move could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings for school districts over the course of a full year. Districts would also save money on reduced hours for custodians and school lunch employees.

The four remaining school days would be extended to make up for instructional time missed on the fifth day. Advocates argue that moving to a four-day week is a better alternative than laying off teachers or reducing programs. But extended school days can be tough for younger students who may get restless as the day progresses, and can create logistical problems for parents who work full time.

Districts in Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, and New Mexico are also considering moving to a four-day week.

See how your school stacks up in our rankings of Best High Schools. Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com.

Tags:: education,; high school,; education policy,; K-12 education

« Previous Post Next Post »

Reader Comments Read all comments (3)

Add Your Thoughts Comment Name State Email

Please enter the two words below into the text field underneath the image.

Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

i think that the 4 day week sounds GREAT because it gives more family time and it gives more days that you can sleep in.

Tyler Morgan of NY 4:56PM December 04, 2011

4 days @ 10 hours = great idea for government, though it will not work in every situation. In education, it's simply a bad idea. Education is given in regular small doses with lots of repetition, and four days one, three days off runs counter to that. There's a parallel here with learning a musical instrument -- you won't get anywhere if you only practice four days a week and take the next three off. Add to this that such a school day will really stretch students' attention span and prove to be counterproductive. There are better ways to save money (like adopting the policy of "use it up, wear it out, make it do" rather than constantly replacing and upgrading).

Subito Piano of NY 10:03AM May 30, 2011

The government as a whole should go to 4 day weeks - lower expenses, cut govt employees driving by 20 % = less gas consumed, better for prices, trade deficit, reliance on foreign oil, etc....
LET'S DO IT.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TOO!
AUSTRALIS DOES IT AND IT WORKS!

DeeToo of SC 9:16AM May 19, 2011