Four-day week for Florence-Penrose School District?
The Florence-Penrose School District is considering changing to a four-day school week, hoping it will help recruit and retain teachers.
The school district says it’s not commenting on the proposal until the first workshop meeting is complete.
The idea is catching on in classrooms across the country and in Colorado.
“That’s pretty cool,” said Amber Kendall, a preschool teacher in Florence.
“I don’t like it,” said Marcus Hooks, a father in Florence.
“I have mixed emotions about it,” said mother, Maegan Abbate, also in Florence.
Research backing up the idea of a shorter school week is also mixed.
“The message they’re sending is school isn’t really that important,” said Hooks.
But one third of schools in Colorado have already made the switch, adopting a four day schedule.
“My friend loves it, due to the fact that her kids have an extra day to unwind and catch up on homework, they’re ready to go come Monday,” said Kendall.
School districts in 20 other states are also trying it. The majority of the schools are in smaller, rural areas, just like Florence.
KRDO contacted the school district for comment on the idea, but school officials say the district doesn’t want to discuss the proposal until it hears back from the community.
“What about the kids with school lunch, who are dependent on school lunch? on fridays they won’t get lunch,” said Abbate.
“Me and my wife would have to work our schedules are to figure out who would be home with the kids,” said Hooks.
For the Fremont school district, that would mean 1,300 kids out of the classroom for an extra day each week. The school district says the whole reason it’s entertaining the idea, is in hopes of recruiting and retaining teachers.
Superintendent Rhonda Roberts says the district will conduct a survey with families and the community to see if the idea has support. She says a 2010 community survey found that 75 percent of the nearly 400 people surveyed said they would be in favor of a four-day school week.
