School board discusses four-day week

A proposed four-day school week was presented to the La Junta School Board Monday — but no action taken until there is further discussion.

Dan Nuschy, representing the calendar committee which consists of classified and certified staff, as well as administrators, presented the proposed 2016-2017 school calendar which moves to a four-day week, with students not attending school on Fridays.

The proposed start time will be 7:45 a.m. with a release time of 3:40 p.m. One Friday a month will be designated as a staff work day.

Nuschy said "99 percent" of the staff would like to see the district go to a four-day week. The pros, he said, include teacher recruitment, student retention and teacher retention.

"This is not a cost-saving measure," Nuschy said.

Concerning teacher recruitment, administrators said one of the reasons teachers do not come to work in this area is because of the lack of a four-day week. If teachers are offered a four-day week job and a five-day week job, they usually pick the four-day week job.

Additionally, the increase of time, specifically at the primary school, will allow students more time to participate in specials classes such as art, physical education, music, and a variety of others - which also allows teachers to have that additional time for planning.

Although it was described as not a cost-savings measure, some board members said they needed more information on what the financial impact could be. For example, will there be a reduction in funding due to lower food services offered?

Board member Jeff Paolucci asked a series of questions that he feels need to be answered. Some of the questions included "is the four-day week educationally sound for all students?" Will the proposed change meet the state requirements of total instructional hours needed for children? At the high school level, the additional time adds about five minutes to each class. How will the time be utilized? Daycare, he said, is very limited in this area. How will that impact families?

Additional questions included how does a four-day week prepare students for college and the work force and what impact will a four-day week vs. a five-day week have on student achievement?

All board members agreed that the stakeholders in the school district need to be asked for their input regarding a possible change. School board members will be in the schools during upcoming parent/teacher conferences to speak with parents and guardians about the change.

When asked if he supported a four-day week, Superintendent Rick Lovato said, "When they (the staff) are united in something, I need to support that." He said his goals include improving the morale of teachers and staff and the culture of the school district and he will support decisions of the team that help achieve those goals.

The discussion will continue in the next few weeks, before the March meeting.