Adopting a 4-day school week is something many students and teachers dream of, but it’s already the reality for 15 school districts in North Dakota. Alexander Public Schools in the northwest has been using this model for eight years.
According to the North Dakota Monitor, the state Board of Public Instruction wants to change the rules regarding what qualifies a district for switching to a 4-day schedule. Under the current rules, a school must see benefits in one of these areas: Encouraging innovation in teaching, improving academic outcomes and opportunities, allowing greater flexibility in how school facilities are used or producing significant cost savings for the district. However, a proposed rule change from the state seeks to remove cost savings and facility use from the list; placing a sole focus on academic factors.
Though Levi Bachmeier and the board want to ensure students don’t experience pitfalls in their learning due to this schedule, educators are fighting to maintain rules as they were. Teachers from rural schools with small class sizes testified that they naturally see a fluctuation in test scores year-to-year, so they don’t think measuring learning in that way is an adequate method to measure a 4-day week’s effectiveness. School districts maintain that this is a key tool in attracting and retaining teachers.
Fargo Representative LaurieBeth Hager also questioned the move, saying changes this significant should be handled by lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session rather than through administrative rulemaking.
Read Mary Steurer and Michelle Tom’s full reporting here.
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