On Thursday, November 10, Piute County School District held a public meeting to discuss the four-day school week.
The purpose was to bring parents, students and the community to the same page on the four-day week proposal. Superintendent Koby Willis hoped to provide all the information on why the proposal was being considered and how it would work if it were to be implemented.
The superintendent also included many resources, including research and school district stats, in a public Google Drive folder available here. Much of that information will be summarized in this article.
Why Piute Is Considering a Four-Day Week
The idea, proposed by the superintendent, was brought about for the sole purpose of improving outcomes for students.
These outcomes included goals relating to:
- Improving academic outcomes, such as absences, instructional time, etc.
- Educating the “whole child,” such as through family time and cultural life experiences.
He made it very clear that “if we don’t accomplish these goals, we should go right back to the five-day school week.”
Other Schools Doing the Four-Day Week Schedule
Piute County School District spoke to multiple schools that had already implemented it. These included many 1A schools in Utah, such as Manila, Tintic, Rich, Wendover and Tabiona.
There is a misconception that shorter weeks are only helpful for high school students. That is not true; in fact, there are more elementary schools than high schools doing the four-day school week across the country.
No school that has gone to the four-day week has ever willingly left it. This includes Piute, which was on a four-day schedule 20 years ago before the state discontinued it.
The superintendent recently went to the State Board of Education to see if switching back was even a possibility. The state was very receptive to the idea! That was when Piute began seriously considering it.
Research Behind the Four-Day Week
The largest study done on the four-day school week is a RAND Corporation study from 2021 called, “Can Four Equal Five?”
The study didn’t show much quantitatively. Though parents and students preferred the four-day school week, there was not a measurable difference between it and the five-day week.
What the study did show was qualitative differences. Other than academic performance, “a spectrum of other factors also played a role, including strong family relationships, cultural life, physical health, and behavioral and emotional well-being.”
Other studies showed that the four-day school week is not a viable option for bigger schools, but it does have a positive impact on rural schools, such as those in Piute County. This could be related to sports travel, as students who play sports regularly miss a full day in a week anyway.
Additionally researchers have found that when removing time from the school week, it is very important to keep instruction time intact. Piute has worked this out in their proposed schedule.
How It Would Work in Piute
Piute’s proposed schedule would include a higher number of full school days, but fewer half days, for a total of 150 days over the year. As indicated, instruction time would stay intact.
| 5-Day Week (Current) | 4-Day Week (Proposed) | |
| Start Time | 8:00 AM M-F | 8:00 AM M-Th |
| End Time | 3:00 PM M-TH, 12:10 PM Friday | 3:30 PM M-Th |
| Activity Bus Time | 4:45 PM M-Th, 2:30 PM Friday | 5:00 PM M-Th |
| Annual Pass Time | 45 Hours | 39 Hours 44 Minutes |
| Annual Lunch Time | 100 Hours 35 Minutes | 76 Hours |
| Annual Instruction Time | 995 Hours 24 Minutes | 998 Hours |
| Annual Student Days | 177 | 150 |
| Full Days | 141 | 146 |
| Half Days | 36 | 4 |
Days would begin at the same time every morning for the high school and end just a half hour later.
Teachers would use Fridays for professional development, supervising school activities, helping struggling students and holding parent/teacher conferences.
The switch to a four-day school week would not save the district very much money, and the teachers would still work the same amount of time. The idea would primarily benefit the students.
The idea of the four-day school week does not appeal to everybody. Despite differing feelings on the subject, however, it seems Piute and its community are slowly leaning toward the switch.
– The Byway
More Resources
The rest of the meeting was devoted to questions. Answers to the most common questions can be found in the Google Drive folder linked above.
Feature image courtesy ksl.
Read about how Garfield County is also considering the switch in Garfield School District Looks at Four-Day School Week.