School Days and Hours Column

Have you ever sat in a movie, concert, or play that you really enjoyed but it lasted a little too long and your mind started to wander or your eyes started to close for a short siesta? I am sure that you have. Imagine sitting in a class that you are trying to pay attention to but it is longer than usual. Do you think there is a chance that you won’t stay focused and the extra time will become background noise? This will be one of the many struggles that our students will face in a 4 day week.

At a meeting we were informed that in order to avoid the long afternoon classes, the elementary students will have the most important academic classes in the morning. This is a great idea but now they have one less morning to learn. They will end up with one more recess time in the afternoon and another half hour of class in the afternoon. Recent studies indicate that a high percentage of students who have not mastered reading by second grade never catch up. Do you really want one less morning of reading? Is this fair to these students? Obviously, putting in possibly more hours does not equal to quality time when there is one less day of reading and math; more recess time and classes that are too long for students to attend.

I work in the Milaca School district. Over twenty years ago, we tried this for a couple months due to an energy crisis. It was extremely tough on younger students and it was very difficult for our special needs students to readjust after a long weekend. Our principal at the time was adamant that anyone who proposes a 4 day week does so against the best interest of the students. Other educators have commented that they would appreciate working 4 days but they do not prefer it for their own children.

It was suggested that this was being promoted in Onamia for educational benefits. There is only one school in the entire country that can show that students are better off academically with this schedule. Quite frankly, school districts are always researching how to improve. Most school districts would be on a four day week schedule if there were statistics to validate that students performed better with a shorter week.

In most school districts a 4 day week has been the very last resort when districts can not pass a referendum. They have determined that this is the last ditch effort. to persuade voters to pass a referendum. Onamia passed a referendum only 2 years ago. .I was very proud to see the taxpayers of the community support the school.

We were informed that a “benefit “of the 4 day week was more “family time”. We aren’t living in 1960. Parents are usually working. “Family”time will either be daycare or students left alone. The consequences of leaving older children alone
may be immense.

Contracts have already been settled for 2 years. Substitutes will have to be paid extra for additional time, the heat needs to remain on, etc. The only real savings is on busing and there was some discussion on having students bused in for programs on that day. A breakdown of the exact savings was NOT presented at the meeting.

It would be great to see a push to save money by combining more programs, staffs, sports and administration with Isle. We have witnessed the success of combining wrestling, track and cross country teams.

There is a possibility that with open enrollment there may be very little financial gain. Isle already has a bus picking up students at Hill’s and Milaca goes as far as Chico’s. If even 10 students leave the district, the savings will be minimal but the affect of decreasing education by twenty percent may last a lifetime.

Jean Steffenson
Onamia,Mn