N-H, WN school patrons give their views about 4-day week

The Nodaway News Leader reached out to parents, staff members and patrons of Nodaway-Holt and West Nodaway to provide their views on their schools’ four-day week.

Both schools have had their first reading of the school calendar for the 2023 – 24 school year, which is set for a four-day school week.

The schools’ leadership made the move to a Tuesday through Friday school week at the beginning of the 2022 – 23 school year. The first semester is now in the history books. With 16+ weeks in the rearview mirror, the parents, staff and others associated with the school indirectly have lived through the change of lifestyle this change provided.

The four question survey asked the following questions.

• Were you in favor of the four-day school week when it was first implemented?

• What benefits do you see with the four-day school week?

• What concerns do you have about the four-day school week?

• Would you be in favor now after the first semester is over?

Parents:

• Were you in favor of the four-day school week when it was first implemented?

No, I was not in favor of the 4 day week. My opinion fell on deaf ears with our school board/administration.

• What benefits do you see with the four-day school week?

The only benefit I see is it allows older students another day to have a job and earn money. But I have my doubts that many students do go find a job.

• What concerns do you have about the four-day school week?

I have concerns of students falling behind by having one less day of classes. I feel that trying to cram a whole days worth into four other days is not sufficient. Also still concerned that younger children don’t have a good place to be on Monday. Parents still have to work five days a week.

• Would you be in favor now after the first semester is over?

No, I’m still not in favor.

I also am not very impressed that the elementary principal and superintendent that pushed hard for this implementation are either leaving the district or not in leadership rolls anymore.

Nick Rosenbohm, parent

Staff:

• Were you in favor of the four-day school week when it was first implemented?

I was pretty neutral about it, I could foresee both advantages and disadvantages.

• What benefits do you see with the four-day school week?

In the past I would spend some of my weekend working on lesson planning, grading or other school stuff. Now I do school work on Mondays so I feel like I have a normal weekend, family/friend time, on the other two days. I think this will translate into less teacher burnout.

I personally have taken less sick days for doctor/dentist visits since I can get them scheduled on Mondays. I think other teachers do this too, so less time away from the classroom.

• What concerns do you have about the four-day school week?

The stress it puts on parents to find childcare. Although I haven’t heard any complaints. I also worry about making sure we are getting everything covered in the shorter amount of time.

It seems to work for middle and high school students but I have some concern on the effects for PK-2 graders.

• Would you be in favor now after the first semester is over?

At this point yes. I appreciate the Mondays off, although it’s not as many as people think once you factor in the one to two Mondays per month for in-service and the normal Monday holidays. When we get to the end of year we will have to reevaluate the overall effect on the kids.

Linda L. Babcock, West Nodaway librarian

• Were you in favor of the four-day school week when it was first implemented?

I was very neutral initially. I had concerns in relation to how the support staff would be able to afford to keep their jobs by taking an hourly cut. Everyone talks about taking care of the teachers, but everyone forgets about the “uncertified” staff that are here pulling their weight too. It was hateful at the open form for a parent to criticize the teachers for being lazy for even wanting to go to a four-day school week when most hospital nurses work three days a week, ambulance workers work two days a week, a lot of factory jobs have moved to 4/10s, and a lot of other jobs also have that option too. After the pandemic, we have learned that there are a lot of different jobs that have a different flexibility that was never considered before.

• What benefits do you see with the four-day school week?

There is always consistency. There is never a guessing game about when there is a teachers meeting or a random Tuesday when there isn’t school, or some other random Friday when school may be off. I understand that not all physicians and services are available on Mondays so it isn’t a “fool proof” system to keep kids from missing school for appointments, but I do know from personal experience that it does cut down on it. It takes a matter of planning ahead and communication.

• What concerns do you have about the four-day school week?

Getting all of the education in that needs to be done at all levels, and keeping their attention spans. Hunger in the afternoons since school goes an extra 30 minutes than previous years.

• Would you be in favor now after the first semester is over?

Yes, I feel that a major change like this needs to stay in place for at least three years to have any proof either way. However, you also need consistency in your teachers, too. There has been a lot of turn over at the junior high/high school level in the math department which when it comes to the end-of-year testing it has proved we are slacking. Having children that have had the previous teachers, we now have a great math teacher that we were able to hire based on the option of having the 4-day week. This is not something that is worth losing in their first year here.

Any other comments:

Trustworthy childcare is a big deal which is lacking in this area. It is a problem all over the county too though. Some of the elementary parents that aren’t affected by the co-op yet don’t realize how quickly they will be affected though now that MSHSAA allows sixth grade students to play junior high sports. This is a reality when it comes to figuring out buses and practice times. For example, if we were to go back to a five-day week and if our school lets out at 3:10 and West Nodaway doesn’t let out until 3:45, those parents will be responsible for their own children until practice time depending on which school the practice is at that week. The co-op is still in place for another three years after this year. If I remember correctly, we entered into a five-year co-op. There are a lot of moving pieces.

Anonymous Nodaway-Holt staff member

Patron:

General comments during a telephone interview, included, “When I was a teacher, there was rarely a weekend that I wasn’t at the school to prepare for the next week’s work. I would have enjoyed to have Monday for that. It will take longer than one semester or even one year to assess the success or failure of the 4-day week move. We have to remember the students have already experienced a learning loss from COVID shut-downs.

“I do believe it can help to retain quality teachers. The longevity of teachers’ time is so valuable to our districts.”

Cindy Lemar, Graham

Administrators

Both superintendents, Mitch Barnes, West Nodaway and Jeff Blackford, Nodaway-Holt, gave similar perspectives on the first semester of the change to their school day schedule.

The benefits that they touted at the beginning of the discussion of saving dollars and retaining as well as attracting quality teachers are becoming reality.

Barnes also noted the learning atmosphere seems to have improved.

Both Barnes and Blackford saw the decrease in discipline issues and an increase in attendance by both students and staff.

Nodaway-Holt had a survey late in the first semester where 42 parents, patrons and staff responded.

“Fifty-five percent of the respondents of community and parents were either ‘strongly’ or ‘in-favor,’” noted Blackford.