‘There are pros and cons’

Local schools move to four days

PRIEST RIVER — To Chelcy Mason, the four-day school week has both pros and cons.

Her boyfriend’s children attend school in the West Bonner County School District, which is in its second year of only operating Mondays through Thursdays. Since Mason and her boyfriend work Mondays through Fridays, West Bonner’s schedule “doesn’t really benefit us,” she wrote in a comment on The Miner’s Facebook page.

It does, however, benefit the children. On their days off, “our kids are home doing chores or walking around town,” Mason wrote. Other parents or guardians who commented on The Miner’s post said their children use Fridays to work part-time, do homework or get more sleep.

West Bonner is the latest of the school districts in the Pend Oreille River Valley to transition to a four-day week. The Selkirk School District made the transition in 2017, shortly followed by the Cusick School District. Both were among the first school districts to do so in the state.

Their objective: to attract and retain teachers amid a statewide shortage.

“Recruiting new teachers had proven difficult due to a statewide shortage and higher salaries in neighboring districts,” Selkirk Superintendent Nancy Lotze wrote in an email. “Additionally, at the time teaching salaries had not kept pace with other career opportunities.”

The same went for West Bonner and Cusick, which Cusick Superintendent Don Hawpe wrote in an email was struggling to attract applicants for open positions.

And transitioning to a four-day week could not only attract applicants, but also retain teachers who were reaching retirement eligibility.

Selkirk anticipated a “wave” of teacher retirements in 2017, Lotze wrote, with about 75% of teachers expected to retire over five years. Many had over two decades of experience.

“To address these challenges, the district explored adopting a four-day school week, a model that had gained traction in other states,” Lotze wrote.

To make up Fridays, each school has longer schedules on Mondays through Thursdays, adding about one hour depending on the school. A four-day week also means no half-days, late starts or early releases for Cusick.

“My daughter works at a fiveday week school and they have so many different schedules for late start, early release, half-days and random days off that it’s insane,” Suzanne Schafer Brooks wrote in a comment on The Miner’s post. She is a teacher at Cusick.

This ensures students meet Washington or Idaho requirements for hours of instruction in school. On top of that, Cusick extended the school year and added 15 professional development days outside of the school calendar, Hawpe wrote.

Still, some end the school year with fewer hours of instruction than before. At Selkirk, grades one through five lost 20 hours while grades six through eight lost 19, though grades nine through 12 gained 18.

Yet both Cusick and Selkirk noted increases in student attendance after transitioning to a four-day week. Lotze cited “more focused and efficient” instructional time with a four-day week.

“Our students seem happier and more engaged,” Victoria Poisel wrote in a comment on The Miner’s post. She is a teacher at Selkirk.

Staff attendance has increased at Cusick and Selkirk too.

By providing a more flexible work schedule, Lotze wrote that Selkirk increased teacher retention and garnered a larger pool of applicants for open teaching positions. Cusick has also benefitted from attracting and retaining staff, Hawpe wrote.

In West Bonner’s case, West Bonner Superintendent Kim Spacek said it was “hard to say” if a four-day week has helped. He is West Bonner’s sixth superintendent in the last four years, and recruiting and retaining staff is a challenge without stability in district leadership.

“I have hopefully a two-year contract and that should provide some stability moving forward after this year,” Spacek said.

Before transitioning into a four-day week, West Bonner hoped students and their families could use Fridays to make medical appointments. But Spacek said that “[hasn’t] really worked out” since doctors usually take Fridays off too.

Even so, Lotze wrote that families have more opportunities to run errands without disrupting the school day. That includes attending away games, most of which Cusick and Selkirk scheduled over the three-day weekend to save more instructional time.

And Spacek has noted appreciation for the three-day weekend.

“They have three days to work on the weekend and support their family,” Spacek said. “As well as three days to get [schoolwork] done and enter school Monday ready to go for the following week.”

As of now, West Bonner, Cusick and Selkirk are continuing with the four-day school week.

Community feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive” for Cusick, Hawpe wrote. Almost half of Cusick’s student body is Native American, and the Kalispel Tribe of Indians also operates four weekdays out of five.

A four-day week gives students another day to complete schoolwork and rest, Lotze wrote. And Spacek said staff are given another day to prepare for the week. Hawpe referenced benefits for both student and staff social and emotional well-being.

“I don’t think there’s any plans to go back to a five-day week,” Spacek said. “Parents and kids like it. I think staff likes it also.”

Mason and her boyfriend’s children are age 12 or older — old enough to stay home or go out without adult supervision. But parents and guardians who cannot look after their children on Fridays must find alternatives for childcare.

“I feel for the parents who have younger kids and have to figure out extra childcare,” Mason wrote.