School board approves four-day school week

ANDERSON — At a special meeting of the McDonald County R-1 School District Board of Education on March 19, the board approved a motion to change the district’s schedule to a four-day week starting next school year.

Board vice president Josh Banta began the discussion by asking how success would be measured.

Superintendent Eric Findley said the district would send out another survey to the public in the fall. He said increasing the number of certified teachers on staff would be an indication of success. The district now has 25 non-certified teachers and started the year at 35. If the district could reduce that number further and at the same time show that the four-day week brought the new teachers into the district, that would show success, he said. He also added the district will have to look at whether its plans are working for different ways of doing things, such as picking up students on game days.

Board member Andy McClain asked about calendars for the 2024-2025 school year.

Findley said three different calendars would be presented to staff for a vote, and then the chosen calendar would be presented to the board for approval. He said the advantage of the four-day week is that breaks are protected; however, Mondays off are not. So, if the school missed a day of school, it might be made up on a Monday.

Board member Dennis Bergen asked how academics would be measured.

Findley said everyone is starting over on academics postcovid, but the school should get a good idea on academics after a few years.

LaDonna McClain, assistant superintendent of federal programs and curriculum, said the administration will continue to track learning data to see if there is any learning loss. That is the last thing the school district would want, she said.

Board member Bobby Parish asked how the change would affect other employees besides teachers.

Findley said bus drivers are going to be able to recover most of their lost hours with professional development. He said OPPA food service workers are still a concern, so he wants to hire them to bring in food for professional development so they can make up their lost hours.

Parish asked how much additional time students would spend in each class at the high school and was told that it would be five minutes per class.

He said, “I can’t see five minutes in class being that beneficial versus having a full extra day in that class.”

McClain made a motion to approve the four-day week, and Banta seconded. McClain, board president Frank Woods, Banta, Bergen and board member Bob Campbell voted yes. Parish and board member John McClain voted no.