Long days, long weekends: One-fourth of SD schools on 4-day per week schedule

Apr. 15—TYNDALL, S.D. — Many kids love the idea of a four-day school week. But what does this really look like?

"Essentially it is just like it sounds," said George Seiler, superintendent of the Bon Homme School District. "Instead of kids coming to school Monday through Friday, they just attend four days a week." Bon Homme has been following a four-day school week since at least the 2008-09 school year.

For many of the districts that follow the four-day model, most are in session Monday through Thursday with Fridays off. Schools practicing this schedule typically hold classes 45-60 minutes longer each day. Usually, a slightly adjusted schedule is in place to work around holidays.

The four-day school week began in South Dakota in 1995 when Custer became the first school district in the state to make the transition. According to Doug Wermedal, executive director for the Associated School Board of South Dakota, there are 148 districts in South Dakota and 38 of those, or approximately 26%, currently follow a four-day instruction week.

Many districts offer tutoring and other support services on the days off. Parker, which adopted a four-day school week during the 2011-12 school year, has what they call Pheasant Fridays. These are contracted teacher days but do not count towards the total student days required by the state. Teachers schedule help sessions from 8 a.m. to noon to work one-on-one or in small groups with students who may be behind, have missed assignments or who are struggling to learn a new concept. Bon Homme offers a tutoring Friday about once a month for students to work with teachers and get individualized help.

"I like that it gives kids a few Fridays a month for help days if they need it," said Lori Miller-Dykstra, whose oldest child attends school in Parker.

For some districts the biggest reason for the four-day switch was as a cost-saving measure.

"For us, the reason was budgetary purposes," said Janelle Johnson, Superintendent of the Parker School District, "One less day of school means one less day of paying service staff and running school buses."

Seiler has also witnessed benefits from the four-day week tied to athletics, with some teams traveling long distances, often on Fridays for double-headers.

"It's been really advantageous for us in that athletes don't have to be pulled out of school on Fridays for a sporting event and miss half a day away from the classroom," Seiler said.

Friday flexibility is the number one positive in the minds of many parents.

Tarah Nolan has kids in the Parker district and feels there are so many added benefits, even coming from a household where both parents work outside the home. "'It's easy to schedule their dentist, eye doctor, checkups, because we know they won't miss school as long as we schedule it on Fridays."

Both Johnson and Seiler echoed that there are many pros to their schedules. Seiler feels having a three day-weekend has helped with attendance. "It allows for families to take weekend getaways," Seiler said. For older kids who want jobs or to help on family farms or ranches, it allows for that opportunity.

While most staff, parents and students have come to embrace the four-day school week, some parents of young children were initially presented with some challenges.

"I hated it at first," said Jacob Foht. "The switch happened when my kids were quite young. Luckily, our daycare lady was able to accommodate us for a while. The extra cost wasn't fun though. Just trying to accommodate the kids on an extra day was challenging."

At the time the Parker School District made the switch, the school aleady had a before and after school program in the Parker Learning Center. They eventually expanded it to include an all-day Friday option. PLC is available for students enrolled in grades K-6 in Parker School, according to PLC program director Jodi Friman. She also recalls that the non-profit daycare, Little Pheasants, was helpful at the time, assisting parents to find care on the extra non-school days. Little Pheasants is owned and operated by the Parker School District and licensed for 20 children, ages birth-to-6.

Parker parent Jess Niezwaag encourages schools thinking of switching to consider childcare issues for families from the beginning though.

"Parker didn't offer Friday care originally for every Friday that school wasn't held. The first few years were tough finding care for those couple of Fridays a month," Niezwaag said.

According to Joseph Graves, South Dakota Secretary of Education, said the state of South Dakota has no such statistics on how four-day school weeks affect state assessments; however, there have been research studies done nationally. One such study done by RAND Corp. studied outcomes in six states (Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and South Dakota) and found that "students in 4-day school week districts fell behind a little every year."

Still, parent Emily Houska loves it and doesn't think academic performance has been sacrificed.

"It's the only set up we have known. We moved to Parker when my oldest was starting kindergarten," Houska said. "Both our kids are making leaps and bounds in education."