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Could a four-day week work for Hernando County schools? Officials want to know more.

The practice has become common for cash-strapped districts elsewhere, especially in the rural west.
 
Hernando County School District [Douglas R. Clifford | Times (2018)]
Hernando County School District [Douglas R. Clifford | Times (2018)]
Published Aug. 8, 2019

In some parts of the United States, especially the rural west, the four-day school week has become commonplace, especially for school districts looking for new ways to save money. Now, the Hernando County School Board — itself looking for ways to avoid a budget crash in the coming years — wants to know more about the concept.

The idea came up at last week’s informal School Board meeting, with district Superintendent John Stratton giving board members a packet of information compiled by a committee exploring four-day schedules. Stratton said the board requested the information several months ago.

That committee found several positives about the four-day structure: its potential as a teacher recruitment incentive; the possibility of more flexible training time; and savings of up to 5 percent by some districts. But the board said it would need more information before it seriously considered the idea, and Stratton said the district would have to handle such an upheaval carefully, with an ear toward students, staff and parents.

“This takes a tremendous amount of community input and community buy-in,” he said.

Reports have shown that four-day school weeks typically are successful in cutting costs. That seems to be of paramount importance to the School Board, which also has explored the possibility of a 2020 ballot vote on a property tax increase to help fund the district. Notes from the district committee suggest a four-day week as an alternative savings measure if the tax increase doesn’t pass: “This (amongst other things) might be the best way to survive if millage not approved.”

It’s less clear how four-day school weeks affect students, especially their lives outside the classroom. There has been little academic research published on the topic. A 2017 study didn’t find clear connections between four-day weeks and academic performance, food insecurity or juvenile crime, but other studies suggest that four-day schedules correlate to both better academic performance and increases in crime. In one 2018 study of teachers in rural school districts with four-day weeks, teachers reported higher morale and stronger classroom performance.

Cheryl Etters, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education, said she didn’t know of any Florida school districts with four-day weeks, aside from many districts’ policies of having staff and administrators work four days a week through the summer.

Stratton said the board could continue the conversation over the next school year. He suggested surveying the community for opinions and said there could be several types of four-day-week schedules — some with a year-round schedule and some not, some with teachers working five-day weeks while students attend for four.

Board members responded positively to the information, though board chair Susan Duval cautioned that the same conversation came up in the district several years ago and drew ire from parents.

“It never even got off the ground here because of the parent, family situations," she said. "It was a mess. ... I’m not saying don’t explore it, I’m just saying: Be ready for what’s going to happen.”