JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Around 30 percent of Missouri’s school districts are only in session for four days a week this year. Missouri’s top educator says this recent trend is part of a domino effect.

A law to allow four-day school weeks in Missouri was approved more than a decade ago to help schools save money after the recession, but the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education says it’s now being used as a perk to retain teachers.

“We have to be very, very sure and certain that this is the right choice for our state if we’re going to continue down that path,” said Missouri DESE Commissioner Margie Vandeven. “I’ve been very vocal about concerns that I have when a school district elects to just shut a school door and shut things done on that fifth day.”

Missouri’s top educator warns of ‘domino effect’ with four-day school weeks

As the state suffers from a large shortage of educators, some schools are pivoting to four-day weeks. This year, nearly 170 Missouri public school districts have implemented a shortened week, mostly in rural areas. That’s 25 more schools than last year, and an increase of more than 100 schools in the last five years.

“This is why we’ve been saying be very careful about it,” said Vandeven. “Because if we’re at 30 percent today and that domino effect I’m talking about starts to occur, it wouldn’t take long for us to be a state of four-day weeks.”

Last year, the Independence School District, just outside of Kansas City, voted to implement a four-day week with nearly 14,000 students. It’s the largest district so far to make the switch.

“At a time when I think we need to be providing additional instructional time, it seems as though our very productive instructional time might be becoming reduced,” said Vandeven.

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Because Missouri is a local control state, Vandeven says districts can make this decision without DESE. Her concern is local leaders making the decision without input from parents.

“That you’ve talked to your community members, and you’ve really focused on what’s happening on that fifth day and how we are providing the greatest level of instructional time,” said Vandeven on the importance of five-day school weeks.

Within the coming months, the state’s education department will be releasing data showing how four-day weeks affected student’s academics.

Vandeven says that within the last two years, nearly a dozen schools have gone back to five-day weeks. Alternatively, one school in particular in southern Missouri now offers free daycare for staff members to support teachers instead of the four-day week.

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