It’s a Monday in September, but with the schools closed, the three children in the Pruente house have nowhere to be. Callahan, 13, contorts into a backbend while Hudson, 7, plays with a balloon and Keegan, 10, plays the piano.
Like a growing number of students across the United States, the Pruente children are on a four-day school schedule, a change instituted this fall by their district in Independence, Missouri.
For kids, it’s fantastic. “I have a three-day school break!” -Hudson exclaimed-.
But her mother, Brandi Pruente, who teaches French in a neighboring district in the Kansas City suburbs, is frustrated to find herself searching for activities to keep her children entertained and away from electronics while she works five days a week.
“I feel like I’m back in the COVID shutdown,” he said.
Hundreds of school systems across the country have adopted four-day weeks in recent years, primarily in rural and western parts of the United States. Districts cite cost savings and advantages in hiring teachers, although some have questioned the effects on students who have already missed out on significant learning during the pandemic.
Hundreds of school systems across the country have adopted four-day weeks in recent years. AFP via Getty Images
For parents, there is also the added complication and cost of arranging childcare for that extra day of the week. While polls show parents generally approve, support wanes among those with younger children.
This Monday, Brandi Pruente was home because Hudson had a mysterious rash on her arm. Most weeks, her eldest son was in charge of her, with occasional help from her grandparents. She has no interest in paying for the child care option the district offers for $30 a day. Multiplied by several children, sum.
“I want my kids to be in an educational environment,” she said, “and I don’t want to pay someone to take care of them.”
Even then, district-provided child care is not as convenient because it is not in all schools. And in other four-day districts, so many parents are adjusting their work schedule or recruiting family members to help that daycare has been suspended due to low enrollment.
For parents, there is also the complication and added cost of arranging childcare for that extra day of the week. AFP via Getty Images
This is especially concerning for parents of younger children and those whose disabilities can make finding child care an extra challenge.
In more than 13,000 school districts nationwide, nearly 900 are operating on a truncated schedule, up from 662 in 2019 and just over 100 in 1999, said Paul Thompson, associate professor of economics at Oregon State University.
The practice has taken off primarily in rural communities, where families typically have a stay-at-home parent or nearby grandparent. But Independence, best known for its ties to President Harry Truman, is anything but rural, with 14,000 students, including about 70% who are eligible for government-subsidized meals.
The district offers meals on Mondays, but not at all schools. Starting in October, struggling students will be able to attend school on Mondays to receive extra help. Superintendent Dale Herl said conversations with officials from other districts convinced him that parents will provide child care for other students.
“You have to step back and look at, you know, what do parents do during the summer? What do you do during spring or Christmas break? he said, adding that schools already had weekdays off for occasions like teacher conferences.
In Missouri, the number of districts that routinely enjoy three-day weekends has more than doubled since the pandemic began, from 12% to 30%. Some Missouri lawmakers have opposed it, arguing that students need more time with teachers. A failed legislative proposal would have allowed students in four-day districts to transfer or attend private schools, with their home districts footing the bill.
Some resort to shorter hours to save money. An analysis by the Economic Commission of the States found that those savings were modest, totaling between 0.4% and 2.5% of their annual budgets.
Some resort to shorter hours to save money.AFP via Getty Images
For many school systems, including Independence, which lengthened the other four school days, the hope is to boost teacher recruitment and retention. Some school systems that are making the switch are competing against districts that can pay up to $15,000 more, with just 15 minutes added to the commute, said Jon Turner, associate professor of education at Missouri State University.
But when a district switches to a shorter school week, it gains a recruiting advantage over others.
Other districts will soon follow, making shorter schedules a “Band-Aid” solution with diminishing returns, Missouri Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven said.
The practice has taken off primarily in rural communities, where families typically have a stay-at-home parent or nearby grandparent. fake images
“If everyone moves to a four-day school week,” he said, “that won’t be a recruiting strategy anymore.”
In some communities, a four-day week is better for families. In Turner’s district in north-central Montana, taking Fridays off avoids situations like basketball games played in districts three or more hours away that leave only a small number of students in school, said Superintendent Tony Warren.
The change also provides another day to work on family farms in the district with just over 50 students, Warren said, although he now also sees some larger districts adopting the schedule.
“They are making the change to the four-day week because all the districts around them have adopted a four-day week,” he said.
In more than 13,000 school districts nationwide, nearly 900 are operating on a truncated schedule, up from 662 in 2019.Getty Images
The effect on academics is murky, although some studies show that the schedule does not affect test scores if the other four school days are lengthened to make up for the time, Thompson said.
However, the Rand Corporation found differences in performance in the four-day districts, although initially difficult to detect, became evident over several years.
That worries Karyn Lewis of the research organization NWEA, whose recent study found that students are not making up all the academic ground they lost during the pandemic.
“Now is not the time to do anything that threatens the amount of instruction children receive,” he said.
When a district switches to a shorter school week, it gains a recruiting advantage over others.Getty Images
At Independence, the hope is that the day-off program for struggling students, which will begin soon, will help them catch up with their classmates. Meanwhile, older students can take classes at a community college.
Only a few large districts have adopted a four-day week. District 27J north of Denver made the change in 2018 after several failed efforts to raise taxes to boost teacher salaries. Because surrounding districts could pay more, teacher turnover had become a problem.
Superintendent Will Pierce said the district’s own surveys now show that nearly 80% of parents and 85% of teachers support the schedule. “Quality of life is what they report,” he said.
Demand for daycare has not been huge, with fewer than 300 children using the day-off program in the 20,000-student district, she said.
Still, a study published this year found that test scores fell slightly in District 27J, and that home values also suffered compared to those in neighboring districts.
“Voters need to think about the trade-offs,” said Frank James Perrone, one of the study’s authors and an assistant professor of educational leadership at Indiana University.
Teacher retirements are down in Independence and job applications are up since the schedule changed. And that’s all good, Brandi Pruente acknowledged.
“But,” he added, “it cannot be at the expense of the community or the families of the district.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn