CO School District Cancels School On Mondays In Favor Of A Four-Day School Week | The Odyssey Online
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Politics and Activism

CO School District Cancels School On Mondays In Favor Of A Four-Day School Week

Miserable Monday's just became mellow Monday's.

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CO School District Cancels School On Mondays In Favor Of A Four-Day School Week
Pixabay.com

As many agree, Monday's aren't the most enjoyable day of the week. Ending your relaxing weekend by setting the alarm clock Sunday night has the power to wipe the smile off your face, but some grade school students get to turn those frowns upside down. A school district in the Denver area has just announced that it will condense its five-day school schedule into four days.

School District 27J of Adams County in Colorado, also known as the Brighton area, will shift from a five-day school week to a four-day starting August 2018. What does this mean for the affected area and the teachers? What will students do on their extra day off? Read on to learn more.

To make up for Monday's off, school hours will be extended by about an hour each day. The elementary schools will start at 7:50 a.m. and finish at 3:30 a.m. Middle and high schools will start at 8:30 a.m. and finish each day at 4:30 p.m. Early release days would be dropped and the occasional Wednesday's off would be no more.

Since most federal holidays fall on Monday's, the district decided cutting this day would be the most convenient and make their schedule cleaner. Besides that, the length of the school year won't change much.

What reasons influenced District 27J to make such a huge change?

The district voted to discontinue class on Monday's for multiple reasons, but the most important had the teachers in mind. When the Denver Post interviewed Tracy Rudnick, the district's public information officer, she claimed teachers in District 27J are some of the lowest paid in the area. Rudnick said teachers have the potential to make $10,000 more a year in the Boulder area, just a 40-minute drive away. Because of this, District 27J has had a hard time retaining highly qualified teachers.

To combat this problem, the district decided to switch to a four-day school week to give teachers more time to prepare their agenda and increase the contact (instructional) time they have with students. A survey conducted by the district was administered to teachers of the area. 91 percent were in favor of the four-day week.

District 27J was turned down a $12 million mill levy override, which votes have rejected six times. The schools in the area were relying on these funds to assist the replacement of 20-year-old textbooks and out-of-date technology, the expansion of staff, teacher compensation and a curriculum revamp. Superintendent Chris Fiedler claimed that the new four-day school week will save the district approximately $1 million annually by spending a day less of transportation costs and substitute teachers.

So far, the reactions from families in the affected area have been mixed ever since the new schedule was proposed in late January 2018. The biggest concern, especially among parents of children in elementary school, is childcare. The district will offer childcare services for $30 a day, which isn't the most practical and cost-efficient solution for parents. As the fall semester approaches, parents of the Brighton area will try to come up with alternatives so they don't have to shell out $30 a week.

So how big is this change really?

The cutback in the school week has caught the eyes of surrounding communities and school districts across the country also dealing with budget constraints and an inability to supply students with updated materials. The switch to a four-day school week has the power to transform how families plan their schedules.

If the four-day school week trend spreads, we might see families take more mini vacations. There's potential for a lifestyle change. Teachers will have more time to prepare material for their students meaning the quality of their instruction could increase. Kids not old enough to stay home alone on Mondays will help the childcare services industry grow. Maybe working parents will start to request Mondays off so they can spend the day with their kids.

There's a lot of potentially positive lifestyle adjustments to think about with this change. Time will tell whether the new four-day school week is a success.

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