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---" I hope they go back to full weeks, but it doesn't look like they will"--
Your last sentence tells me you must be in the minority.
If the vast majority of residents felt as you did, the school board would be voted out and replaced with members who supported 5 day school weeks.
Not if the 4 day week balances the budget. Given a choice between higher taxes or a 4 day school week, I'd be willing to bet many parents who are opposed would back down.
Here, our funding comes from the state. My district had in place extra funding but the state took it in cuts (but left us with the higher taxes we pay to have that funding . This should be against the law but that's another issue.) but you cannot vote in more funding now. You had to be grandfathered in (but they took it so what good did it do? ). With no new funding, the only choice many districts have is to cut where they can. A four day school week means 20% less spending for busses, gas, bus drivers, cafeteria staff and custodians. How many teachers might you be able to keep if you cut those things by 20%?
People may not like it but it may be needed. I'd love to know how much my school pays for gasoline in busses. While less wear and tear on the busses isn't an immediate savings, it is a long range one. If your busses last 20% longer, that's significant too.
As a parent, I think it could work, as long as a few things change as well. An hour or so longer day for those 4 days, longer school year, and the day off would have to be Wed.
Currently my DD goes to school 5 days a week for less than 7hrs per day. If they increase the school day from 7:40am-2:30pm (6hrs & 50 mins) to something more like 7:15am till 3:15pm (8 hrs even) and make the school year longer during the summer (getting out mid June and going back early Aug), that would be better.
I would also want kids to be on a more college style block schedule for bi semesters, instead of year long 45min classes.
Also, starting in 3rd grade or so, give kids the choice in extra classes. Like the choice between choir/music or art or a language class.
Not only will that help them transition into HS and college, but an 8hr day will get them used to a traditional workforce schedule.
But I would want the day off to be mid-week (Wed), so they could have a day to catch up on homework (like college students do), practice practical application on subjects (if their parents help them with stuff like that), and it would be a good day to schedule Dr.'s appts and the like.
When we homeschooled the kiddo, we usually took Wed as our "lazier day" when we did hands on experiments, went to the zoo, did field trips and the like.
As a parent, I think it could work, as long as a few things change as well. An hour or so longer day for those 4 days, longer school year, and the day off would have to be Wed.
Currently my DD goes to school 5 days a week for less than 7hrs per day. If they increase the school day from 7:40am-2:30pm (6hrs & 50 mins) to something more like 7:15am till 3:15pm (8 hrs even) and make the school year longer during the summer (getting out mid June and going back early Aug), that would be better.
I would also want kids to be on a more college style block schedule for bi semesters, instead of year long 45min classes.
Also, starting in 3rd grade or so, give kids the choice in extra classes. Like the choice between choir/music or art or a language class.
Not only will that help them transition into HS and college, but an 8hr day will get them used to a traditional workforce schedule.
But I would want the day off to be mid-week (Wed), so they could have a day to catch up on homework (like college students do), practice practical application on subjects (if their parents help them with stuff like that), and it would be a good day to schedule Dr.'s appts and the like.
When we homeschooled the kiddo, we usually took Wed as our "lazier day" when we did hands on experiments, went to the zoo, did field trips and the like.
The only reasons schools are considering going to 4 days a week is at a last resort to cut the budget as it already has been cut to the bone.
Your suggestions ( extending the school year, more choices in classes) sure doesn't sound like actions a school board in a district facing extreme budgets cuts is gonna consider.
Extending the school year and adding more classes would eat up any savings from going to a 4 day school week.
Especially if that day off is in the middle of the week .
The only reasons schools are considering going to 4 days a week is at a last resort to cut the budget as it already has been cut to the bone.
Your suggestions ( extending the school year, more choices in classes) sure doesn't sound like actions a school board in a district facing extreme budgets cuts is gonna consider.
Extending the school year and adding more classes would eat up any savings from going to a 4 day school week.
Especially if that day off is in the middle of the week .
The only way this will work is if the day off is in the middle of the week. You can't ask kids to sit in class for four extended days in a row. You're going to burn them out. The mid week break gives them, and their teachers, the chance to catch their breath before going under again for two more LONG days.
You'd also need to extend the school year to absorb some of the time that needs to be added on. If you cut 30 days out going to a 4 day week and add three weeks onto the lenght of the year, you still save 15 days of not driving busses, not running the cafeteria, not running the school office, not needing custodians, etc, etc, etc... that's about 8% of the year as the year is now.
The school I know that has done it for over a year ( Tuesday-Friday) like it.
I can't speak for districts in other states, but in Minnesota it is done for maximum cost savings and the only way that can be achieved is by Tuesday-Friday, slightly longer day, and the same length of the school year.
Again, I can't speak for other states, but a 4 day school week here is only done as a last resort by districts who have already made many cuts.
The school I know that has done it for over a year ( Tuesday-Friday) like it.
I can't speak for districts in other states, but in Minnesota it is done for maximum cost savings and the only way that can be achieved is by Tuesday-Friday, slightly longer day, and the same length of the school year.
Again, I can't speak for other states, but a 4 day school week here is only done as a last resort by districts who have already made many cuts.
Why does it have to be Tuesday-Friday for maximum cost savings? Realistically, over a 3 day weekend, you can't turn down the thermostat anymore than you can with a day off because it will take too long to heat the building back up. Everything else stays the same whether it's Tueday-Friday or MT-ThF.
I teach on a rotating pattern that results in seeing all of my classes 4 times a week instead of 5. I like this because each of my classes has that extra day, during the week, to work on things. I give my biggest homework assignments the day before a class will not see me the next day.
If the school day is longer, that means less time for students to do homework during the week. Without a homework catch up day built in, I don't see this working well at all. I'm sure teachers and students like it but liking it doesn't mean it's working well. We all LIKE 3 day weekends. I just don't think they're good for us if you're not lengthening the school year. Now 4 days a week, same length day with year round schools, I could really do something with.
Currently my DD goes to school 5 days a week for less than 7hrs per day. If they increase the school day from 7:40am-2:30pm (6hrs & 50 mins) to something more like 7:15am till 3:15pm (8 hrs even) and make the school year longer during the summer (getting out mid June and going back early Aug), that would be better.
Where does your DD go to school? I teach in a WY and our kids currently go to school from 8:00 - 3:30pm with a 25 minute lunch, 5 days a week for 187 days a year, going back the 3rd wk of Aug and getting out the end of the 1st wk in June. And we BARELY meet the time our state requires our kids be in school for a year. If we have any snow days, those are tacked onto the end of the year.
Wouldn't work. A ton of school revenue is made by sports. Baseball, football, swimming, lacrosse, and a few others need daylight to practice at many high schools. Sure, lights help but not every high school has enough lights...I know mine didn't and most around mine didn't as well.
This isn't a rhetorical question -- I genuinely do not know the answer to this one -- I also question how much the school puts out in expenditures for equipment, coaching salaries, electricity, insurance liability, grounds/maintenance, or peripherals such as athletic trainers, athletic secretaries, and so on. I genuinely would like to know if athletics truly pays its way.
In NV (Las Vegas area) they have year-round schools in some districts. The kids go 5 days a week, 6 hrs a day, for 6-8 weeks (if I remember correctly -- it's been about 20yrs). Anyway, my stepson was in a yr round school and they'd have breaks during the year when other schools were still in session. This made it hard for me because I taught at the HS level in a school that was on regular session.
My neighbor had 2 girls ages 8 and 10, and she worked full-time (her husband was military and involved in some military conflict at the time). She just used to leave her two girls at home alone because she didn't have a sitter for when they were out on their breaks.
I have a 14 year old son now, and no longer teach. I however, do homeschool with my son and if schools went to a 4 day week I think a lot more parents will end up homeschooling their children.
What I think would be a better situation is if they had shorter class days (keeping it at 5 days) and then cut down on the length of vacation time. Having a 4 or 5 hr day, 5 days a week with just 6 weeks vacation every summer would be ideal.
Our education system needs to focus more on giving students a higher quality education. I understand the budget issues, and know that taxes are already high enough as it is. But, there has to be something else that can be done to save money Vs making the cuts in education.
So many other countries already have far more superior educational systems than we do here and if our children are to compete on a global scale, then cuts are not the answer.
There was an idea floated around a while back by some other teachers I knew, about offering Internet-based courses. Kind of an online-classroom type of thing. Maybe they'll look into something like that as a way to save money?
They could do 3 days in school classrooms and 2 days via the web. It could probably work.
--------" there has to be something else that has to be done to save money"---
In the districts I know of that went to a 4 day week, it was only because of the budget.
They already had looked at and used every budget cutting idea already and were eager to hear of more from the residents.
Are there school districts who went on a 4 day week for reasons other than the budget?
I don't know.
I do know, in our area, the only districts doing it or even considering it were districts with budget problems who had exhausted other means.
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. This should be against the law but that's another issue.) but you cannot vote in more funding now. You had to be grandfathered in (but they took it so what good did it do? 
