TR R-X looks at four-day calendar

Twin Rivers R-X families may have at a different school schedule for the 2020-21 academic year.

Board of Education gave faculty permission Tuesday to design potential calendars with both a five-day and a four-day school week.

In September, the district started asking parents and faculty for input about the possibility of switching to a four-day week.

Over 75% of both parents and faculty said in survey results they would be in favor of the change, high school counselor Christina Miller told board members Tuesday during their monthly meeting. A four-day school week would mean about 20 fewer days of school.

The Missouri Legislature approved in 2009 a measure that allows schools to maintain the same number of instructional hours, but over the course of fewer days.

The transition to such a school schedule has gained popularity since 2016, but no district in the area has started with one yet.

Currently, 58 school districts in the state attend for four days. Two districts started with that schedule for a year or two before returning to five days, according to officials.

Most districts with four-day school weeks are smaller rural schools, according to provided information.

Miller and other faculty members reached out to all the school districts in Missouri to talk about their experiences, Superintendent Jeremy Seibert said.

A handful responded and reported more positives than negatives, Miller said.

Miller said the positives include increased attendance rate, better recruitment and retention for teachers, a more consistent schedule with holidays, better adjustments for potential weather days, more family time and cost savings.

The attendance rate increase, she said, came from families being able to schedule doctor appointments for the week day students are off. The most common day to take off is a Monday because many holidays throughout the year fall at the beginning of the week. If the school closed for severe weather, the days off can become make-up days.

“I thought that was really good,” Miller said. “That way we can make up instructional time before state assessment rather than after.”

For teacher recruitment and retention, she said, a four-day week can be an incentive, particularly at smaller schools that may have a lower salary than another district nearby.

The extra day off can give families more time to spend together or for the student to spend time with extended family, Miller said.

Money savings

One of the big discussion points is it would save the school district money. After the board heard the 2018-19 audit report, it discussed ways to reduce expenditures due to a $856,000 deficit.

The shift to a four-day week could help the district save on transportation and food costs. Whether a school district actually sees a cost savings has been mixed, according to a report given to the State Board of Education earlier this month.

Most school districts see savings in the first year or two, but it can go back up after that as the district tries to meet other needs, said Roger Dorson, deputy commissioner, Division of Financial and Administrative Services.

The cost savings was a concern for the R-X school board as well. Members requested an estimate of how much it would save before they vote to approve a calendar.

Concerns

The surveys identified some other concerns as well, including child care for the extra day, low-income families who struggle with food, special education students and later practice times for sports.

Some districts have tried a voluntary study time with that extra day, but they didn’t see enough turnout for it, Miller said.

The high school students wouldn’t be in school either, which means the possibility for them to have regular babysitting jobs to help address the childcare needs, she said.

Seibert expected concern for low-income families.

The district operates a backpack program, which sends food home to needy families for the days students aren’t in school. Should the board approve a four-day week, the district would need to expand this program to compensate for the additional day, he said.

The practice times would depend on what kind of bell schedule gets approved.

One of the remaining questions is what time school would start. Miller said the two most popular suggestions were 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. or 30 minutes later.

The school board’s main concern is test scores. The district’s didn’t score as high on the API as the board and administration would like.

“The 20 days that it would save us, what concerns me about that is test scores,” President Billy Watson said, “and how we feel like we are when we see it in front of us on a piece of paper. How would we lose 20 days of school and improve on our test scores?”

Seibert said from his research the other districts haven’t seen an impact on test scores either way. It adds extra time to each day to help recover that lost time. Seibert said, some days would come from before school starts as the earliest school calendars can start is Aug. 24.

Watson followed up with concern over ways to keep students engaged during the school day, when they’re already growing tired with the current schedule.

Miller said that comes with more engaged and interactive teaching over lectures.

The average addition to each class period, if the district adds an hour to the school day, would be eight to 10 minutes.

Some districts, she said, use one Monday a month for professional development and collaboration time for teachers to prepare lesson plans and work together on projects.

“It’s more time to put things together in addition to their prep time,” she said. “Because a lot of the time, at least at the high school, a teacher’s prep time is spent one-on-one with students tutoring rather than working on curriculum.”

Miller and Watson agreed they don’t have strong opinions at this point either way on the calendar. Seibert said he would reach out to the school districts he’s been in contact with to see if somebody could talk to board members and address their concerns better.