Does anyone have kids in public school that utilize a 4 day school week?

[hrh_disney_queen]

How's that working for y'all? Our school board is considering this 4 day week in 2011 due to finances. The school day is an hour longer, I guess. So at the end of the week it would come out to be about 2 hours less instruction time for the week. The extra day off won't effect us, as I am at home. But for parents who can't afford extra child care, what about them? And then you may have the issue of MS/HS kids left at home without supervision to roam around and get into trouble.

But...having longer but fewer days may cut down on some wasted time such as "hi's and goodbyes" as we used to call them at work, breaking for lunch, and beginning and ending classes. I don't know what I think. So if your kids are down to 4 days, how is it effecting your child's education?

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Wow, no one? Anyone ever hear of such a thing?

 

[NikitaZee]

I've never heard of this. Do the parents in your district get a say in this change, or will the school board decide on its own?

 

[golfgal]

There is a district in our state that did this starting last year. It sounds like it went ok. It was a cluster of some pretty small towns that did this. It sounds like a church or some other organization offered a program for kids too old for day care but not old enough to really be home that long. I know there are other districts considering this because of budget cuts.

 

[LuvOrlando]

As for the finances thing, what on earth kind of society is ok with trimming the fat on education????? Out of all the nonsense my tax dollars pay for, educating children is not one of them! Schools should be sacrosanct.

On a personal note, we'd be ok in my house but what about all the families who rely on school as a form of daycare while they work? The whole idea sounds like it can go horribly wrong very easily.

 

[suzannews]

It was talked about in my district last year (I think) when they were looking for ways to cut the budgets. We would be OK here as I work nights and my husband works days but I know lots of kids who would be home alone.

 

[mum4jenn]

A county in GA did this a couple of years ago and another one is going to start it next year.

Our Superintendant is dead set against this way of cutting money.

All employees that are paid by the hour would have to take a 36 day cut in pay and most of these are only making minimum wage. Lots of people would have to find other jobs because they are already making below the poverty level and that kind of cut would hurt even more.

I also do not see how the students will pay attention with a longer day.

 

[abdmom]

They are doing the same thing in HI this year. Every other Friday is off.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I've never heard of this. Do the parents in your district get a say in this change, or will the school board decide on its own?

I think it's one of those situations where the parents can voice their opinions, but the BOE/governor will decide.

A county in GA did this a couple of years ago and another one is going to start it next year.

Our Superintendant is dead set against this way of cutting money.

All employees that are paid by the hour would have to take a 36 day cut in pay and most of these are only making minimum wage. Lots of people would have to find other jobs because they are already making below the poverty level and that kind of cut would hurt even more.

I also do not see how the students will pay attention with a longer day.

We may be the latter county you have heard of. I'm in Savannah in Chatham County. Teachers are already having furlough days-which means our kids aren't being taught on those days. As for what LuvOrlando says, that is the prevailing argument against it. We need MORE money for education, not less. Cutting the school week and adding time to the remaining days is not the way to bring Georgia up from the bottom ranks of education scores. In SAT scores for 2008, Georgia was ranked 45th, I dont' think it changed much in 2009.

 

[almburr]

We have it and we love it. Our day begins at 8:15 and ends at 4:15. If you are in jrH and HS sports practice begins at 4:30 and ends at 6:30. Weightlifting is from 6:45am to around 8am

Our kids do rather well on testing, so there are no complaints there. We also have full day Kindergarten 3-days, the first 2 weeks they go half day to get the feel. We also have 1/2 day Pre-school 3-days.

We save alot of money by going to the 4 day week. Our education has not been affected. the kids cant wait to get there. It has been in effect for around 10-12 years.

 

[NikiM20]

They have a parish not to far from us that does this. I believe a local community group runs some sort of "camp" on the day they dont have school. My inlaws live in the parish and were telling us about it

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

We have it and we love it. Our day begins at 8:15 and ends at 4:15. If you are in jrH and HS sports practice begins at 4:30 and ends at 6:30. Weightlifting is from 6:45am to around 8am

Our kids do rather well on testing, so there are no complaints there. We also have full day Kindergarten 3-days, the first 2 weeks they go half day to get the feel. We also have 1/2 day Pre-school 3-days.

We save alot of money by going to the 4 day week. Our education has not been affected. the kids cant wait to get there. It has been in effect for around 10-12 years.

Well, I have to admit that in my case I wouldn't mind it as long as the kids weren't pushed harder on those 4 days than they are on the 5 days they have now. A 4 day weekend every week would be nice. I was worried about the educational side of it. I'm glad to hear that it can work out.
Truancy with trouble from the kids that should be in school or at home is a big problem here, so those kids that have no one to keep track of them on that one day are going to be getting into a lot of trouble I'm afraid.

I used to work a 4 day work week-10 hours per day- and it was wonderful!

 

[NLK]

My DH and I were just talking about this. We are also in GA and they are going to vote on going to a 4 day school week, this week. We had the same thoughts. What will parents do who work? How will the kids do in school? The school day seems so long as it is. If my DD takes the bus she leaves at 7:30 and gets home at 4:10 pm. If the school day gets out at 4:30 she wont be home till 5:15pm. Then what about homework and after school activities,cleaning up,dinner? I'm a stay-at-home mom but I think I'm in the minority, I think a lot of parents will have a problem with this. But I guess the schools feel "That's not our problem" when it comes to what kids will do on Friday. I hope it doesn't go through.

 

[emma'smom]

In Ohio, the Governor wants to increase the number of school days per year...not decrease them. Interesting....

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

My DH and I were just talking about this. We are also in GA and they are going to vote on going to a 4 day school week, this week. We had the same thoughts. What will parents do who work? How will the kids do in school? The school day seems so long as it is. If my DD takes the bus she leaves at 7:30 and gets home at 4:10 pm. If the school day gets out at 4:30 she wont be home till 5:15pm. Then what about homework and after school activities,cleaning up,dinner? I'm a stay-at-home mom but I think I'm in the minority, I think a lot of parents will have a problem with this. But I guess the schools feel "That's not our problem" when it comes to what kids will do on Friday. I hope it doesn't go through.

I'm in Savannah. I think I read that there is one county that already does a 4 day week, but they have Mondays off. I would rather have Fridays!

My DS11 is in middle school and he goes from 7:30-2:00, so I guess he will go from 7:30-3:30? And my DS10 in elementary goes from 9:00-3:30 and doesn't get home til 4:00, so he will get home around 5:00, too. That is going to be rough in the winter months.

In Ohio, the Governor wants to increase the number of school days per year...not decrease them. Interesting....

That sounds more of what we need here. I am in the school a lot and I can't believe what they have to cram into the hours they have our kids. I thought I read that we already have a shorter school year than others, I could be wrong.

 

[SunshineOR]

We've been on a four-day school week for over 15 years and everyone here likes it. A new superintendent came in a few years ago and wanted to switch the district to a five-day week and met with major opposition from teachers and parents.

The days aren't too long. 8:15-3:30 for elementary kids, 7:30-3:00 for jr. high/high school. My kids have no problem with it and as a stay-at-home mom, I love having another day with my kids. There are lots of parks and rec programs and daycares are used to arrangements to help parents who are working and need the extra day of childcare. Parents can schedule dentist and doctor appts. for Fridays and not have to pull the kids out of school, teachers do inservices and meetings on Fridays (they have to work about half the Fridays) so that doesn't cut into any educational time. Plus, high school students in sports have longer-distance games scheduled for Fridays so they can travel on the day off and not miss school. In a rural area like ours, athletes can miss a lot of school having to leave early to get to events. Also, working high school students have another day available to work.

Our schools have competitive test scores and our high school has recently won several awards for student achievement based on test scores, so academics don't seem to be suffering. We're happy with it here, albeit a little spoiled with our every weekend is a three-day weekend lives!

 

[almburr]

We've been on a four-day school week for over 15 years and everyone here likes it. A new superintendent came in a few years ago and wanted to switch the district to a five-day week and met with major opposition from teachers and parents.

The days aren't too long. 8:15-3:30 for elementary kids, 7:30-3:00 for jr. high/high school. My kids have no problem with it and as a stay-at-home mom, I love having another day with my kids. There are lots of parks and rec programs and daycares are used to arrangements to help parents who are working and need the extra day of childcare. Parents can schedule dentist and doctor appts. for Fridays and not have to pull the kids out of school, teachers do inservices and meetings on Fridays (they have to work about half the Fridays) so that doesn't cut into any educational time. Plus, high school students in sports have longer-distance games scheduled for Fridays so they can travel on the day off and not miss school. In a rural area like ours, athletes can miss a lot of school having to leave early to get to events. Also, working high school students have another day available to work.

Our schools have competitive test scores and our high school has recently won several awards for student achievement based on test scores, so academics don't seem to be suffering. We're happy with it here, albeit a little spoiled with our every weekend is a three-day weekend lives!

Sounds just like us except for the times. There are alot of people that dont realize how far we have to travel to games.

 

[portocall]

Wow, our school day is 8:10-3:30 five days a week. We have a longer school day than most around here anyhow. I don't know how I would feel about switching to a four day work week. I do know my husband is on the four day work week schedule and I am so jealous every Monday morning when the alarm goes off. I can see the pros and cons of both sides of the arguement.

 

[shortbun]

Our district cut a period off every day for three years to save money. Kids lost their music, sports and club time or something else they really needed. When we passed the last levy, that 'hour'/period was recaptured. The teachers reported as usual when we lost the hour and that time was their meeting time, so no teacher professional days were in those school years either.