VIENNA — The Maries R-1 School Board has had some discussion about the four-day school week and the district this week is surveying parents about it. At this time no decision has been made about the school calendar for next school year but I wanted to provide information to the community before asking for their input by way of a survey. 

When looking at this as a possible option for our the district, the board’s first and foremost priority is the education of the students. They want to be sure they continue to provide a quality education for students, preparing them for their future outside of school.

Two months ago a discussion at the regular school board meeting about the impending teacher shortage across Missouri and the nation, led to research into the four-day school week. In Vienna, over the past two years the district has had to fill five teaching positions and at least two non-certified positions each year and they still have one position they were not able to fill for the 2019-20 school year (Spanish teacher). When asked why Vienna has a difficult time finding qualified applicants, school administrators site one reason of base pay being lower than all other schools around the area. The board raised base pay to $29,000 for the 2019-20 school year but it still remains lower than all of the other schools around the area. The board is trying to address this issue the best they can with the budget that our school has to work with but this will take time.

Other things that attract teachers to a school are school culture and staff relationships as well as workload/calendar. At Vienna employees feel is a great family atmosphere among staff, and it is a great place to work. If any staff is lost to neighboring school districts, it is usually because pay is higher at the neighboring school. They began looking at the four-day week to recruit and retain staff and are fortunate to have a school district nearby (Belle) which has utilized the four-day school week for several years. When talking to community members from that area they say the transition was rocky at first but, looking back, they are glad they made the move and it would be very difficult to go back to a traditional five-day week.

Since the four-day school week was first allowed in Missouri in 2008, only one Missouri school district (Lexington) went back to the traditional five-day school week after starting the four-day week. Currently there are at least 1,500 school districts nation-wide using the four-day week and all states west of the Mississippi have at least one district utilizing this schedule. In Missouri, 61 school districts use the FOUR-day week for the 2019-20 school year, up from 33 the year prior, and at least nine have already decided to move to the four-day week for the upcoming school year.

Maries R-1 is not by itself when looking at the four-day week as other similar-sized districts in the state share many of the same difficulties. Some of these difficulties include the need to attract and retain quality teachers, budget shortfalls that can hinder the ability to provide salary increases, and a shortage of people willing to work as substitutes. When asking many of the school districts across their reasons to move to the four-day school week most of the schools who responded gave many of the same reasons as was found in the research from Missouri State University. 

This research on the Top Reasons Given for the Switch to four-day week in Missouri to the four-day week sited six primary reasons: 

• Attract and retain highly qualified teachers.

• Additional time for professional development and collaboration.

• Increased teacher and student attendance.

• Financial savings and less “wear and tear” on school equipment such as buses.

• Increased time for students and family.

• Less out of school time for students and coaches to attend extra-curricular events. 

Many of these are the same difficulties that we are experiencing here at Vienna.

To meet the required number of hours for a school year set by DESE, the length of the regular school day would be lengthened. Maries R-1 could change from the current class times of 8:10 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. daily to an extended day of 8 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. daily. This change would keep the length of the school year in days/weeks very similar to what our district has had in the past. Then they would choose the day in which we would not be in school, a Monday or a Friday, and would set the calendar. While setting the calendar they would keep in mind that in some weeks, classes would be in session on those normally scheduled day off due to other “required” days off, such as if Monday was the scheduled day off, they could be in class on the Monday of Thanksgiving week in order to have at least two days during the week. As the school year calendar is built, staff could schedule the professional development days into the calendar, so staff is able to receive the needed training to fit the needs of students. Early release Wednesdays would be eliminated because the PD training would be a complete day on the days that students are scheduled to be off. Snow days could either be partially built into the calendar or they could make up all missed days on Mondays, giving parents at least seven days notice of a make-up day. To make the calendar, staff would be consulting with other districts that have made this switch to eliminate any issues along the way.

As I share this information with you I want to share three key research findings from Missouri State University about the four-day school week in closing. One, there is little long-term academic impact on student learning. Two, many districts found a maximum financial savings of 5%. And three, it has been strongly supported by parents and staff.

We know looking at this schedule is a big step for Maries R-1 so they will be asking for community input. Surveys will be sent home with students this week for parents and community members to provide their thoughts. There will be a link to the survey on the school district website of www.mariesr1.k12.mo.us. Please complete and return the surveys by Jan. 24 so they can put together the results for the board. I appreciate you reading this article and for providing your thoughts on the survey.

If you have any further questions about either the four-day school week or the bond issue election in April, please feel free to call Mr. Parker at the school.