Keep 5 Days

Do more with less? That lie doesn’t work in the business world and it won’t work in schools.

Yes teacher and student morale may improve by going to a four-day-a-week plan like La Grange ISD is considering, but even as thousands of schools nationwide have gone to this model, I’ve yet to fmd a single study that says education of kids improves under a four-day-a-week plan.

Proponents of the four day week point to the fact that kids are still in class the same number of minutes a week, just longer days. Statistically, any meeting more than 25 minutes will make 80-percent of the participants zone out. I’d bet that zone-out factor is even worse for schoolaged kids. Longer classes are not the answer - especially for elementary kids. Give kids digestable lessons of information, then rinse and repeat as much as possible, especially in math, which our schools are lagging behind the state average in.

Also, in a four-day week, if a kid misses a day or two because they are sick or have a sporting event (veiy common on Thursdays in the spring) they will get increasingly behind.

Schools that have made the switch financially save only about 1% to 2% by shortening the school week by one day.

Also the argument that parents can make all their kids’ doctor and dentist appointment on Friday isn’t realistic based on our medical infrastructure locally. The most missed day by kids used to be Friday, it will just switch to Thursdays.

Finally, invest in people instead of fancier facilities as a way to keep/attract great teachers.