News
Four-Day School Weeks Impact Drivers While Districts Report Cost Savings as Minimal
WRITTEN BY DEBBIE CURTIS D
espite studies proving negligible cost savings, the option of shortening the school week to a four-day schedule is becoming increasingly popular. Tere are currently 21 states that
have schools operating on a four-day week schedule, reported the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Te four-day week is being implemented main- ly by smaller school districts in rural areas. Oklahoma is particularly hard-hit economically, and nearly 100 districts there have adopted a four-day sched- ule. Districts in the Mountain West, with students in particularly remote areas who have long school bus rides, are also opting for one less day of transportation costs. Superintendents can’t save money on teacher salaries, but they can cut transportation and other hourly wage em- ployees. Te four-day week is also an incentive for hiring new teachers who would rather go to a four-day district in a rural area than work five days in an urban setting. Paul Hill, the founder of the Center on Reinventing
Public Education at the University of Washington’s Bothell campus, commented in the July 14 issue of Education Week on schools in Newcastle, Oklahoma. By cutting 21 of its school days, Newcastle realized just a 0.9 percent savings. Tese results are consistent with what other districts see, per a 2011 study from the Edu- cation Commission of the States. Savings aren’t as much as districts expect because so many costs are fixed. But there are also factors, like heating the buildings, that aren’t allowing for expected savings. In the winter, buildings must still be heated for longer periods during the four days that class is in session, plus on Fridays for administrative staff, sports teams and teacher’s meetings, for instance. Michael Griffith, the school finance strategist for the
Education Commission of the States located in Denver, said that although districts cut one-fifth off their week, they usually see a cost savings of between one and three percent. “Although I don’t have exact statistics, I can say that
Lena Galloway, director of transportation for Montezuma-Cortez School District in Colorado, said a four-day school week saved in fuel costs but reduced some driver salaries. In the end, she said the biggest benefit the transportation department realized from the change was a three-day weekend for some, but not all, of her staff.
24 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2017
transportation is the largest area where school districts see their savings,” Griffith said. “Te reductions come from reduced fuel, and cutting hourly wages such as bus drivers, but also food service, librarians and teacher’s aides.” Despite some parents and educators remaining op- posed to four-day school weeks, an upward trend contin-
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
