Arkansas district will discuss moving to 4-day school week

An Arkansas faculty district is scheduled Monday to debate transferring to a four-day faculty week.

Lincoln Colleges Superintendent Mary Ann Spears mentioned the proposal is designed to, amongst different issues, assist appeal to and retain academics for its 1,065 college students.

“We’ve academics that drive in from Lowell and Bentonville and spend an hour on the highway every manner attending to us,” Spears mentioned. “That’s a part of the piece of this. If we are able to do one thing just a little bit in another way and construction ourselves in another way, hopefully we are able to recruit and retain extra academics.”

Spears mentioned such a transfer may additionally assist enhance workers and pupil attendance, lower the dropout fee, enhance district tradition and local weather, monetary financial savings, improve enrollment and improve or no less than keep pupil achievement, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

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The district is proposing to have faculty Tuesday by way of Friday and add about an hour and 20 minutes to every day, with the additional time positioned on each ends of a college day. The district is required to have 1,800 minutes of instruction per week, and these minutes could be unfold out over 4 days as an alternative of 5, Spears mentioned.

Spears mentioned academics in any respect three of its colleges have indicated they assist a four-day week, and workers overwhelmingly most popular Monday because the day without work. Colleges would use some Mondays as skilled growth days for academics and as teacher-parent convention days.

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Monday makes essentially the most sense as a result of it’s the heaviest day for pupil and instructor absences, Spears mentioned. As well as, having Mondays off would permit academics and fogeys to schedule appointments, present extra household time and probably present extra job alternatives for highschool college students.

Spears mentioned considerations with a four-day week, a few of which had been expressed by dad and mom on the boards, included the truth that youthful college students would have longer faculty days. Working dad and mom must determine youngster care on Mondays, and college students from houses in want would have fewer faculty meals with a four-day week.

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The Lincoln College District will vote on the proposal on the subsequent board assembly Monday at 5 p.m.

In Arkansas, 29 faculty districts — together with Atkins, Bigelow, Bismarck, Mayflower, Kirby, Trumann, Cutter-Morning Star and Perryville — use a four-day week and others are trying on the choice for subsequent 12 months, Spears mentioned.

In all, she mentioned, greater than 1,600 districts in 25 states use a four-day faculty week.