Four-day School Week Helps Utah Districts Cut Costs And Boost Teacher Retention

Districts across the country have been moving to a four-day school week including the recent decision by the Iron County School Board. What is driving these decisions and what are districts who have made the change seeing with their students?

Economics Driving Educational Change

The reason for moving to holding school four days a week are mostly economic. There are less young people becoming teachers and some rural districts are losing their best educators to larger districts that pay more.

Offering a four-day work week has made it more appealing to work in these districts and teachers feel less burn out. It is also helpful for costs associated with bussing students in rural districts that cover large areas.

Concerns and Research Gaps in Student Performance

There is concern about how it effects the students and there isn't a lot of research that has been done on this. One study found that kids in districts that cut the amount of time in the classroom did see a drop. Those who lengthened class time didn't see a difference.

Four-day school weeks are growing in popularity. Photo by Robin Jonathan Deutsch on Unsplash

It is surprising there isn't more information as this isn't a new concept. Schools started experimenting with four-day weeks in the 1930s and it grew in popularity during the 1970s during the gas crisis.

Districts like Iron County are required by the State of Utah to take into how it will effect families. They must offer the options for students who want to stay in a five-day systems.

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It isn't an easy decision. If a school district is losing good teachers, it might be better to have a great educator for four days than a burned out unhappy teacher for five. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in Utah.