CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — As students return to school, some are seeing the benefits of a new four-day week schedule.
The Casa Grande School District is in its third year with the new schedule, and Superintendent Adam Leckie said he’s seen positive effects so far.
One of the big reasons the board and district moved in this direction is to help find staffing solutions due to teacher shortages. Leckie said there are no teaching openings this school year, but there are openings for food service staff, paraprofessionals and other classified employees.
“We just did an employee survey and over 75% truly agree that the four-day week has been a driver of retention and year-over-year growth, so we know it’s working,” Leckie told ABC15.
The Cartwright Elementary School District in Phoenix also moved its teachers to a four-day work week last school year after students had been on a four-day work week schedule for several years. A Cartwright Elementary School spokesperson told ABC15 that the district has seen fewer vacant positions and is seeing the benefits of the four-day work week schedule.
“We also know that there is no single solution to the talent retention and recruitment problems facing our profession,” Leckie added.
Data from the Arizona Department of Education shows that the number of teachers receiving emergency certification did increase after school districts changed their schedules, but other factors may also be at play.
Child care can also be a major obstacle to scheduling, but Leckie said the organization is working more with the Boys & Girls Club and another organization called Casa Grande Alliance to help families who need child care on Fridays when school is out.
In terms of student achievement, Leckie said there have been slight improvements.
“I’m really proud to say that student achievement has steadily improved despite the move to a four-day week,” he said. “I think that’s been to our benefit. It’s really made us prioritize what’s important for student learning.”
A report card of the district’s schools from the first to second year under the schedule showed six schools were promoted and five remained unchanged.
Paz Lawton, a kindergarten teacher at Cottonwood Elementary, said she is able to teach her students the same material twice.
“I feel like my retention is a lot better because I can teach it and then reteach it,” she said. “So I can teach the first lesson of the material in the morning and then reteach it again in the afternoon.”
Lawton added that taking the third day to recover and rest has helped him feel better mentally, which he feels helps his teaching.
“I’m a kindergarten teacher, so they’re especially the youngest students. It’s their first time at school,” she continued. “It’s a very energetic place. They need that engagement and an extra day to relax and ground themselves. And they need to plan and be here more and focus more on all the things that we have to do as teachers.”
A shortened school week with an average of two extra hours of instruction can be exhausting for kids, and school districts must meet minimum instructional hour requirements throughout the school year.
Leighton, a second-grader, said she comes back to school more motivated to learn, despite the long school days.
“It helps me sleep more, so when I come home from work I’m like, ‘Wow, this is so fun,'” she says.
Paul Hill, a professor at Arizona State University and founder of the Center for Reforming Public Education, said he has studied four-day school weeks across the country, including in Oregon, Idaho and Missouri, but not Arizona.
He confirmed that more school districts across the country are moving to a four-day schedule, with recent figures showing that about 2,100 schools in roughly 900 school districts across the country have adopted the schedule.
When it comes to student achievement, at least in the states they looked at, it has stagnated or declined.
Only time will tell in Arizona, but for now, at least in the Casa Grande Elementary School District, the program is showing success.
“We’re always making small tweaks and small changes to meet the needs of our community,” Leckie said of the changes they’ve had to make since implementing the new schedule. “We haven’t felt like we’ve had to make any major structural changes.”
