By KAREN JAEN
If Orange County Public Schools switched high schools to a four-day school week they could save at least $300,000. These additional funds could make all the difference. Schools who are currently operating four days a week are saving on energy and transportation bills, along with bus drivers’ salaries.
Switching to a shorter week has both benefits and drawbacks that will affect students. With the current gas price inching closer to $3, not attending school for one day could save a considerable amount of money.
This approach should only be implemented in high schools as these students are older and more independent, and it will be easier for them to find activities to do during the day off.
One of those activities could be finding a job. For those students who currently have a job they will benefit from the day off so they are able to work a whole day. This is especially helpful for those working students who help sustain their household’s income.
If this were put into action for elementary and middle schools, working parents would struggle to find day care for their children. This would be a major issue because not all parents have the time to search for childcare or money to pay for it.
However, those states who are practicing the four-day week have begun programs where high school students are trained to voluntarily baby sit younger kids. This program is a way for the school to help those struggling parents find a safe place for their children.
Not only does childcare pose a problem but a four-day week would also mean a longer school day. Currently, students are in class for seven hours. Changing to a shorter week the school day would be another hour and a half hour longer.
Schools practicing the four-day week begin school at 7:50 a.m. and end at 4:09 p.m. This becomes a growing issue because students complain about exhaustion and the mountains of work they are obligated to do in such limited time at home.
However, a longer school day is a small sacrifice compared to the many benefits that a four day week has to offer. To help the exhaustion problem teachers should consider giving lighter loads of homework because more material is being covered in classes. If classes are longer, students should have less work to complete at home.
Students in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, started the four-day week in 2008. The shorter week has helped both student and teacher absentee rate decrease, which also helps save money because less substitutes are needed.
The disciplinary rate has also dropped because students are busy finding jobs and being involved in extracurricular activities.
Webster County, Kentucky school district students have also grown academically. They ranked 111th in the state in the 2003 standardized test (Kentucky Core Content Test) and, since switching, reached 53rd because classes are longer and students have more time to elaborate in subjects they may be having trouble on and teachers also have more time to cover everything in the curriculum.
Teachers working in a standard school week continuously have trouble with finishing everything in their curriculum before the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test comes around.
In a state driven by standardized testing, switching to a four-day week is obviously beneficial. If Caldwell Parish’s students have increased in their standardized test rank, Florida students should also see a similar result upon shortening the school week.
The Boundary County school district in Idaho has also benefited from the shorter week. They were able to meet all of the benchmarks required by the No Child Left Behind Act.
South Dakota’s Custer school district switched to a Monday-Thursday schedule in 1995 and now 90 percent of parents show support for this schedule. Teachers also feel have a 20 percent increase in the material they cover.
The parents in Caldwell Parish were concerned that students wouldn’t have enough time for extracurriculars because of the longer days. But the extra day off spares the district from having to cut funds for any extracurricular activity.
Although it is a drastic change and it may be chaotic until students become accommodated to this new schedule, a four day week will show a positive outcome over time.