In the small town of Daisetta, southeast Texas, the Lady Cats run warm-up drills on fall Fridays while football coaches, players, and cheerleaders prepare for the night’s game. Meanwhile, a local church provides lunch for the students, but there are no classes, and just a handful of teachers’ cars can be seen in the parking lot.
Hull-Daisetta is one of many US schools, at least 1,600 in 24 states, according to a 2021 study, that have implemented a four-day schedule, giving students and teachers Fridays or Mondays off. Students on a four-day schedule generally have longer days to make up for the time missed on their day off.
Although the shorter week is upending traditional ideas about K-12 education, it is mainly driven by concerns about finances than claims it will boost student performance, and its long-term effects on learning are still unclear. Some states that have allowed the schedule to be implemented, including Minnesota, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, have since moved to restrict it, while others have seen a rapid expansion.
US schools have experimented with a four-day week as far back as the 1930s, with administrators seeking to save on bussing and energy costs when gas prices soared in the 1970s. Another wave of schools adopted this practice in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to address shrinking budgets.
More recently, the pandemic and its shift to online and hybrid learning and added stress on teachers, students, and families may have made some districts more open to adopting profound changes. The four-day week is still primarily limited to small, rural schools in US states west of the Mississippi, where travel distances are greater, and hiring qualified educators is a challenge.
According to Tim Bartram, the superintendent of the Hull-Daisetta independent school district, moving to a four-day week was necessary due to financial issues, such as struggling to get teachers as the pay cannot compete with larger districts. Several neighboring districts had already made the switch, which made him fear losing students whose families preferred this schedule.
The change was made after consultation with the community, including surveys of students, parents, and teachers, and feedback so far has been positive. Students have said they “love it”. Teachers have more time enabling them to get more done during the extended periods, which cut into teaching time, like taking roll and moving between rooms. Attendance is up, and staffing has been better.
However, Bartram remained nervous about the change and whether it is what is best for the community. “You have to wonder, is this the right direction or not? Is this what’s best for our community? I think any good administrator, good leader would definitely have reservations about making a move like this.”
To many teachers, the four-day week is a perk that makes their longer hours worth it. The longer class periods are particularly useful for labs, as they allow students time to debrief. Having a day off for errands and medical appointments is more convenient, especially in remote areas.
Former science teacher and mother of three, April Lanotte, who worked at a similar school in eastern Colorado, found the four-day school week helpful. Though it proves more challenging when her children are on a different schedule due to a new job. Without the four-day week, a childcare crisis is possible for her family.
In her younger years, Yeager’s mom would take Fridays off when possible, while other times Yeager would head to her grandparents’ home. Now, her parents enjoy a four-day week, with her mom taking up a role as a substitute teacher at Yeager’s school, enabling them to be on the same schedule. Meanwhile, her father, an engineer, occasionally takes Fridays off for quality family time.
Yeager’s school days are no walk in the park, with her rising at 6am, from Monday to Thursday, in order to prepare herself for classes that commence at 7.10am and come to a close at 3.25pm, followed by a volleyball practice. It is only around 6pm when she returns home. "School can be really demanding and exhausting," says Yeager. "I always look forward to Fridays because they are relaxation days." When Yeager does have a day off, she tends to sleep in first before getting her homework done, then either practices her volleyball skills, or is a cashier at an apple farm nearby.
Kim Fischer, a Denver-based English teacher for high school students and mom to her four children, had taught previously at a four-day school located in a rural part of Colorado. She found the longer school days to be particularly challenging. "You finish up by 4.00pm, and in the winter, it’s already dark by 4.30pm," she explains. At that time, her then-kindergartener would come home exhausted. Today, her kids, aged three to eleven, attend school five days a week, which leaves them feeling less physically drained. Fischer has since gone back to working five days a week again, and believes she’s been granted greater teaching flexibility, without having to constantly rush through her day.
According to a Rand Corporation study conducted back in 2021, the main intention for districts moving to a four-day week was to save costs, as well as boost attendance rates and teacher recruitment and retention. Data obtained from Idaho, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri, and South Dakota revealed some modest savings – less than 3% of the total budget – although some administrators found even slight budgetary benefits to be useful. The survey did not come up with evidence of an impact on the rate of absences, however, it did indicate that having a four-day week could be seen as advantageous for teachers considering various job opportunities.
From Rand’s study, less than 3% of parents believed that they faced issues with childcare for the fifth day, during interviews and focus groups. The researchers added, however, that this could be influenced by selection bias. In rural communities, close-knit relationships with friends, relatives, and neighbours, older teenagers watching over younger kids, and certain churches and community centers offering "pop-up" childcare on the free day could play a crucial role.
The popularity of a four-day week has been proven in a number of communities that have already experienced it. Dr Jon S Turner, a professor at Missouri State University’s College of Education, revealed that as many as 143 school boards in Missouri have already clinched the decision to move to a four-day week, and among them, only one school board chose to revert to a five-day week.
Missouri education researcher Turner monitors how effectively a four-day week has been executed across his state, where about 8% of the student population is taught in a quarter of non-charter public schools adopting this schedule. As Turner puts it, "One thing I must stress is that this is not a free pass for teachers to slack off." Many four-day districts have even doubled their professional development time, so teachers spend even more time on campus compared to their five-day counterparts.
The impact of such a four-day week on academic performance remains in the dark, partly because of its newness. Turner remarked, "Four-day weeks have significantly increased in popularity here over the last four years, but we interrupted them with a pandemic in the process. Unless researchers take into consideration more than just a year or two’s snapshot, we can’t really determine the effects on learning." Nevertheless, there are plenty of possibilities to explore in a four-day week, which are not easily available in a five-day week, making this approach a way forward that can see outside the box.
Turner cautioned against making sweeping generalizations about the efficacy of a four-day school week, recognizing the variation in educational requirements and implementation across states and districts. He expressed curiosity about how schools utilize the fifth day, using it for diverse purposes such as targeted intervention for struggling students, internships and job shadowing opportunities, community service, cultural exploration activities, and enrollment in college courses. He noted that this condensed schedule can offer unique opportunities and encourage innovative thinking.
One specific example is AUL Denver, a public charter school dedicated to serving students aged 14-21, which has incorporated a four-day week into its trauma-informed approach. Many of the students are caregivers, recently released from juvenile detention, or experiencing homelessness, yet all are striving for a high school diploma.
“A lot of our students are providing for their families,” explained Carlee Taga, a science and health teacher at AUL Denver. “Having an additional day in the week gives them the flexibility to work more and save money that would otherwise go towards childcare for their own children.”
Taga emphasized that the four-day structure “respects students for where they are at and meets them exactly where they are.” Several students have shared with her that if it weren’t for the support and flexibility at AUL, they would not have been able to attend school.
