Board, committee review draft plan for potential four-day week at Kellogg School District
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 to review and discuss 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 to see what they thought about the potential change. They also polled their classified and certified staff to see how they felt about the idea.
More than 50% of school districts in Idaho have moved to a four-day format.
Post Falls High School, for instance, is in the middle of its pilot year. Grangeville, Orofino and Priest River are also on four-day schedules.
RESULTS OF THE SURVEYS
The district sent 1,096 paper surveys home with students earlier this month and received 488 responses.
Sixty-nine percent of the responses were positive or receptive to the idea, compared to 19% neutral, and 12% negative.
An electronic survey 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 child care, 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, 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 in the district stated that the primary concerns came from the classified staff who didn't want to lose working hours and benefits if a day was cut.
ADDRESSING THE CONCERNS
The committee presented potential strategies that could alleviate some concerns.
Both Kellogg Middle School and Pinehurst Elementary School have special programs that could be adjusted to provide activities and meals to students on Fridays.
According to the proposed plan, KMS’s WISE program would operate from 9 a.m. to noon with students receiving breakfast and lunch before being released.
PES would offer its PASS program 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.
As for concerns over the quality of education, the board and committee concluded that quality educators are the key to making a four-day schedule work.
EFFECT ON STAFF
According to the draft plan, teachers in the district would have job duties Friday. These would include being available for academic support and attending professional development and other trainings.
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 day 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 to help get children to the Friday programs.
SCHEDULING
The board has already approved the schedule for the upcoming school year, but it can amend the calendar if it decides to move forward with the draft plan.
The proposed schedule offers very few changes to what had already been approved, but some shuffling would be needed. One additional day would be added to the school year.
The first day of school for the 2024/25 school year would be Sept. 3.
Instead of a full week off school, students would attend class the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Christmas and spring break would remain the same length.
The final day of school would be June 12, 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.
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 more events to those days.
Historically, football, track and cross country already schedule most of their events on these days, but sports like basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, wrestling and golf all have 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.
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 well-being of the 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,” Kellogg School District Trustee Alexa 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."
Michele McKinnon, a fifth grade teacher at PES, said she was supportive of the idea because of the flexibility it would give her professionally and as a parent.
“I think it could positively impact the quality of our schools,” McKinnon said. “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.”
The board will have a few days to consider the information before its May meeting, which could have a potential vote on the agenda.
The Kellogg School Board will meet at 7 p.m. May 14, but as of now, it is unknown if the proposal for a four-day school week will be on the agenda.
Alexa Griffin