The Governing Boards of the Patagonia Elementary School (PES) and the Patagonia Union High School (PUHS) will decide on Jan. 17 whether the elementary and high schools will go to a four-day week starting in Fall 2024.
“A four-day week is a great tool to retain and recruit teachers,” Superintendent/Principal Kenny Hayes said. “Hopefully, it would reduce our absenteeism problem on Fridays, and consequently students would miss fewer days.”
In the proposed new schedule, students would attend school from Monday to Thursday. To make up for the time lost on Fridays, the length of each remaining school day would be increased between 30 and 40 minutes, most likely at the end of the day. All staff salaries and hours would stay the same, and bus schedules would adapt to the changes. Bus service for Elgin School students, which is provided by the Patagonia School Districts, would continue to be provided on Fridays.
90% of parents approved of the change to a four-day week in a survey conducted in the fall of 2023. School is currently a half-day on Fridays, and parents have cited the difficulty of picking up or arranging for pickup of their children from school in the middle of the day.
Teachers for the most part support the change, according to Hayes.
“We are accepting public comment,” Hayes said. “Email or call me. I am happy to listen to comments and suggestions.”
Public hearings on the proposal are scheduled for January 10 at 5pm and January 16 at 5pm. Members of both the PES and PUHS governing boards will be present at these meetings, which are to held in the high school cafeteria. The two governing boards will then meet on January 17 at 3:30pm to decide the issue.
If the Boards approve the four-day week, the schools will look at reaching out to the community to provide for the needs of the kids on Fridays. “These discussions will have to wait until after the vote of the Governing Boards,” Hayes said.
Nationwide, 7% of school districts, most of them small and rural, have moved to a four-day week, including 67% of school districts in Colorado.
The National Education Association (NEA), the national teachers’ labor union, cites cost savings as the key factor. Districts that don’t want to raise taxes to pay teachers more are using the long weekend as an incentive to retain personnel. It frees up teachers to have more time to develop professionally. The NEA reports positive impacts of a four-day week to be cost savings, increased teaching recruitment and reduced student absenteeism. Low- income families who rely on free lunches to help feed their families are negatively impacted, and child care costs for Fridays are also a burden for many.
“We don’t know how the four-day week will affect us until we try,” Hayes said. “Our systems can overcome any problems.”
Superintendent Hayes can be contacted at 520.394.3000 ext 3018 and khayes@psd0620.org