Board, committee review draft plan for potential four-day week at KSD
KELLOGG –– The Kellogg School District may be just a few weeks away from approving a pilot four-day week following a public workshop last Thursday.
The special workshop allowed the board of trustees the opportunity to review and discuss the data gathered by the committee that had been looking into the change.
KSD Superintendent Lance Pearson led the workshop and has been working closely with the committee to present them with enough information to make an informed decision.
Over the past few months, the district had reached out to families throughout the district, both through electronic/email and paper surveys to see what they thought about the potential change.
They also polled their classified and certified staff members to see how they felt about the idea.
More than 50% of school districts in Idaho have decided to change to a four-day format, most recently, Nampa School District which boasts approximately 13,000 students.
More locally, Post Falls High School is in the midst of its pilot year, and the response from the community has reportedly been exceptionally positive.
Grangeville, Orofino, and Priest River are also on four-day schedules – again, reporting positive results and feedback from the respective communities.
Each person in attendance was given a packet containing the information presented to the board – these packets contained the results of the surveys, as well as a draft plan of how the district potentially could navigate such a change if it were approved.
RESULTS OF THE SURVEYS
The district sent 1,096 paper surveys home with students earlier this month but only received 488 of them back.
69% of the responses were positive or receptive to the idea, compared to 19% neutral, and just 12% negative.
The electronic/email surveys yielded a 78.3% response supporting the idea, while 14% were opposed, and 7.8% felt they didn’t have enough information to make an informed decision.
The bulk of the opposition came from families of students at Pinehurst and Canyon Elementary Schools, with the primary concerns being challenges with childcare, inconvenience, impact on food services, and the potential for academic shortcomings.
Concerns over facilities funding, teacher accountability, and changes to the school year schedule were also discussed.
The staff survey, which included 75 classified and 72 certified staff members showed significant support in favor of a four-day week, with 83.2% in favor and 16.8% opposed.
During the workshop, the four principals of the schools in the district stated that the primary concerns came from the classified staff who were concerned about potentially losing hours and benefits if a day was cut.
ADDRESSING THE CONCERNS
Within the draft plan. the committee presented potential strategies that could be utilized to negate most of the concerns that were leveled against the schedule change.
Both Kellogg Middle School and Pinehurst Elementary School have special programs that will be adjusted to provide activities and meals to students on Fridays when regular classes are not in session.
As part of the change to a four-day week, the district would do away with the early release schedule that each school follows on Wednesdays. Instead, KMS and PES would offer these reduced days.
According to the proposed plan, KMS’s WISE program would operate from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. with students receiving breakfast and lunch before being released.
PES would offer their PASS program on Friday with a 6.5-hour special day that includes breakfast, lunch, enrichment activities, and homework help before dismissing students at 2 p.m.
The district’s food services, including the special programs that provide food for some students over weekends, would continue and even be expanded to accommodate children who do not participate in the two Friday programs.
Concerns over academics remain subjective, because, at this point. there is no unbiased, conclusive evidence that shows whether or not the four-day schedule improves studies and test scores. This was discussed by the board and the committee who concluded that quality educators are the key to making a four-day schedule work.
However, a recent study from Education Weekly showed that student attendance, which is directly tied to academic performance, increased when districts went to the four-day week.
HOW WILL THE CHANGE AFFECT DISTRICT STAFF
According to the draft plan, teachers in the district would have requirements on the fifth day of the week, these include being available for academic support and attending professional development and other trainings.
However, the biggest win for teachers was that the day would allow them to prepare lesson plans, grade assignments, and conduct other classroom preparations without sacrificing hours beyond their contractual obligations.
Classified staff, including bus drivers, paraprofessionals, and other non-certified staff would be given the opportunity to maintain their full-time status through several avenues, including attending one full of training per month, additional school time during the four-day week, tutoring and academic support, as well as opportunities to work in the WISE or PASS programs.
The transportation department would still be in full use, but with a few changes to schedules, routes, and other small variances – They would also be utilized for the Friday programs days.
All of this requires the presence of support staff like custodial and facilities employees to keep buildings maintained and clean.
SCHEDULING
The board has already approved their schedule for the upcoming school year, but they can amend their calendar if they decide to move forward with the draft plan.
The proposed schedule offers very few changes to what had already been approved, but some shuffling would needed.
Despite rumors that the school year would be extended weeks if the district moved to a four-day format, the proposed schedule only added one additional day to the length of the year.
The first day of school for the 2024/25 school year would be Tuesday, September 3.
Instead of a full week off of school, students would attend class on the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Christmas and spring break would remain the same length.
The final day of school would be June 12, 2025. One day later than the already approved calendar.
The district would eliminate early release Wednesdays, the fall and spring professional days, the end of quarter/semester grading days, and conference days before Thanksgiving and spring break.
Recesses and passing periods would also be minimally reduced.
For example, Post Falls High School utilizes three-minute passing periods between classes.
And according to the administration and board, if Kellogg were to follow the same, teachers would be expected to be more lenient on student bathroom breaks.
School day lengths would be increased by 15 minutes at each of the four buildings in the district and the schedules would be as follows:
Canyon Elementary 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Pinehurst Elementary 7:45 a.m. to 2:55 p.m.
KMS 7:55 a.m. to 3:20 p.m.
KHS 8:05 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
ATHLETICS AND EXTRACURRICULARS
Currently, 50% of athletic schedules fall on Fridays and Saturdays – KSD Activity Director Scott Miller told the board that his goal would be to move as many more events to those days as possible if the draft plan was approved.
Historically, football, track, and cross-country already schedule most, if not all, of their events on these days. But sports like basketball, volleyball, baseball/softball, wrestling, and golf all have very blended schedules that feature weekday and weekend games. Miller’s plan would be to schedule the bulk of the games with lengthy travel requirements on these days to eliminate the need for students to miss class.
CONCLUSION
By the end of the workshop, several board members spoke positively about the information in the draft plan.
One of the major misconceptions of the draft plan is the financial impact as a result of changing to four-days.
According to the draft plan, staffing at all levels would need to remain the same, however, the need for substitute teachers would likely decrease. The school also would still receive the same funding, both for students and facilities.
According to the board, the mental health of their students and staff would be the driving force behind approving any schedule changes.
“Our students and staff deserve to have lives outside of school and it can be a real positive on mental health when you feel balanced in life,” Griffin said. “Unfortunately our area has suffered great losses and hardships and it takes a toll on everyone. We want our students and staff to feel supported and to focus on that support even if we change our schedule. We have looked at key issues the we heard from staff and families, like childcare, length of the school day and year, food services, and salary and benefits. The intention is to continue to provide as much as we can, and that would include continuous monitoring of these situations as we potentially navigate a four-day week.
Michele McKinnon, a fifth-grade teacher at PES, is largely supportive of the idea because of the flexibility it would give her professionally and as a parent.
She also addressed what has become the elephant in the room for many districts across the state – teacher retention and attraction.
“I think it could positively impact the quality of our schools,” McKinnon told the News-Press. “Nationwide there’s a teacher shortage, but the small, rural areas feel that even more. KSD doesn’t compete with the larger districts in the region as far as pay, so a four-day week might make potential prospects consider us when they wouldn’t have before. I will have my own children in KSD for the next 18 years, so I’m largely invested in the future of our district and I think this change would be in the best interest of our children.
As far as how I’d be impacted as a teacher, I don’t think it would make a huge difference in my work days. I’d have to do a bit of rearranging to make sure I fit all of the standards in within the school year. The Friday teacher work days would provide teachers adequate time to plan more meaningful lessons. Personally, it would give me more time to juggle motherhood, extracurriculars, and household duties.”
Griffin shared McKinnon’s concerns about attracting and retaining teachers – and during the workshop, it was discussed how making the change to a four-day week could help make up the difference between what they’re able to pay a teacher compared to the larger or better-funded districts.
“We are trying to attract and retain teachers in a highly competitive market, in an area where they can easily commute to other districts,” Griffin said. “Teachers are hard to come by, and we want good people who want to stay here and this may be a way to incentivize them to do that.
In recent years we’ve been lucky to fill positions, but I’d love to get to a point where there are multiple highly qualified teachers competing for our openings. To me, what makes a school great is the quality of teachers and staff within it.”
The board will have a few days to consider the information before the May board meeting, which could have a potential vote on the agenda.
Kellogg’s decision could have a ripple effect on at least one of the two neighboring districts.
“Anytime a valley school district makes a significant change in their schedule it has the potential to impact the other two districts,” Wallace Superintendent Todd Howard said Monday morning. “Kellogg’s potential move to a four-day week would be one of those changes. It would be a monumental task for the WSD to make a move to a four-day week for the 24-25 school year because we have had very little conversation about the change. I think what we will do is watch and learn as Kellogg makes the transition. If the change impacts the Wallace School District or if we identify an issue that could be positively impacted by the change, we will more aggressively explore the idea.”
Les Wells, Mullan’s Superintendent, told the News-Press that his district would remain five days a week no matter what Kellogg decides to do.
The Kellogg School Board will meet on Tuesday, May 14, at 7 p.m., at this time it is unknown if the four-day week will be on the agenda.
Alexa Griffin