For a growing number of students across the country, every weekend is a three-day weekend — some educators say it’s even helping students learn more. While these shorter weeks have helped school much, there is still a lack of data to show whether it is beneficial or harmful to students. While some districts experimented with shorter school weeks, they became very popular in the 1970s during the energy crisis. In Colorado, Garfield School District No. Re-2 was able to save $480,000 each year by cutting one day out of each school week.
Schools in 21 different states, including Arizona, Utah, Oregon and Wyoming, have schools that only operate four days a week. These schools are typically found in small, rural communities that have fewer students.
Those in favor of four-day school weeks argue their students are more rested and teachers are more prepared to teach. Teachers, who are salaried employees, are able to use their extra time to prepare more thorough lesson plans and prepare for each week more fully. Schools have also seen a decline in absences because students have a full day off of school to schedule doctor appointments and compete in athletic events, which usually happen on Fridays.
The best ways to measure the success of four-day school weeks are test scores, but so many other factors can account for increases or decreases in scores, too. This makes evaluating the four-day workweek difficult.
Some school districts in Idaho have returned back to five-day school weeks for many reasons. In certain areas, educators have seen students struggle with longer school days and worry about students receiving free or reduced lunches.
It is said that parents voted to take elementary students off the four-day week schedule because it created so many issues. “I really doubt the fact that we did this,” he says. “What we’ve done is taken five days and compressed them into four and made busy lives even busier.”
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