St. Regis School thinking of a four-day week

St. Regis School is meeting with parents to discuss the possibility of a four-day school week.

“This all came about because the strategic plan (for the school) calls for teacher recruitment and retention of excellent teachers. We can’t compete with the bigger schools, but implementing a four-day (school week) would provide a quality of life element,” said Superintendent, Joe Steele.

Parents and teachers met last week to discuss the issue, with another meetings planned in the near future. Steele liked one suggestion he received, which was to create a model for their unique education model they have implemented, rather than adopting a model from somewhere else. There was also some interest in a year-around model. Concerns surrounding a four-day week include child care issues and children missing meals.

In addition to the allure of a shorter week to recruit and retain teachers, another plus for having Fridays off is extracurricular activities. Activities like sports, and field trips could be scheduled for Friday, eliminating the need for students to miss school. Parents could also schedule things like doctor appointments on Friday, to avoid their children being absent from school.

St. Regis Principal, Shaun Ball said that both he and Steele had experience working at schools with a four-day week and both had positive experiences from it. They are still in the discussion stage of the process, but one idea to help with child care and meals, would be to open the school on Fridays for additional care.

Alberton School went to a four-day week nine years ago. Superintendent, Clay Acker, was on the school board when the decision was made to switch.

“There were a few concerns about child care, but not much negative feedback from the parents,” he recalled.

He also feels that it has helped when recruiting teachers, since it’s difficult to find teachers willing to work in small, rural districts. However, they haven’t seen a big cost savings as a result of switching to four-days. Fuel for the buses that run on Friday is a savings. But they have to adhere to state law and so there are still around the same number of school days and hours being taught.

Alberton holds classes from 7:55 a.m. to 4:03 p.m., compared to 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. when it was a five-day week. They also don’t take as many holidays and spring break was cut down to only one day, instead of a whole week.

Having sporting events on Fridays is a positive result of the switch, because athletes don’t miss as much school, he said. In Montana, 61 school districts have gone to a four-day week, according to a 2014-2015 Montana Office of Public Instruction list. Acker said he gets calls on a regular basis from schools who are looking into switching to a four-day week, “I think its gaining momentum.”