There is nothing a student or teacher loves more than a day off from school—a break from the traditional five-day week. Whether it’s a snow day or three-day weekend you won’t hear a single complaint. But there is a possible way to once every couple months dream into a once a week reality, a four-day school week.

It was 2008 during the Great Recession when schools began to take a leap of faith, trying out a four-day school week. This was attempted in many

rural school districts who wanted to cut some costs. Then, in the spring of COVID-19 more rural school districts saw a similar spike of schools transitioning to a four-day week with 662 districts making this switch according to Journalist Resource and in 2023, 900 districts had adopted this schedule according to Education Weekly . But, it is important to note that four-day school weeks are more prevalent in the rural areas in the Midwest and West than they are here in New England.

When considering this switch it’s important to consider how this could help students as they are who schools are trying to educate. In many school districts having a four-day school week have also caused an increase in positive student behaviors, schools have seen less bullying, fighting, and better student attendance.

An article Journalist Resource  summarized a study by Emily Morton who wrote that “results indicate that 4-day school weeks decrease per-pupil bullying incidents by approximately 39% and per-pupil fighting incidents by approximately 31%.” With a lot more anti bullying and pro mental health actions popping up it is important to try and limit behaviors that may harm others in our school. Seeing as bullying and fighting can be huge problems in school, a four-day school week may be something all districts could consider.

Not only that but I’m sure all teachers know the struggle of trying to catch someone who might have been out for a doctor’s appointment or a family trip. But, an article by Pop Sugar  outlined that research was conducted by RAND Corporation that said schools saw better attendance because of that extra day of flexibility. It now makes it easier for parents to schedule appointments and trips when the students won’t miss school. In this same article a parent Kayla Dickhoff from Belgrade, MN said “ I try to schedule as many appointments that my kids need as possible on Mondays when we have off,” then continued, “That way, I don’t have to pull them out of school.” In the end this would decrease the amount of kids missing instructional time because of non-related school conflicts.

Districts should also think about switching to a four-day school week because of the money it can save, this is the main reason many districts choose to switch. Considering the ever present problem of having to make budget cuts in Darien, less school days may save the district some money.

According to an article by NCSL research has shown “the maximum possible cost savings for districts on a four-day week is 5.43%” while the number may not seem like a lot, it could actually end up being thousands of dollars. Emily Morton is quoted in a Pop Sugar article that “the average district saves about $50,000 per year this way” this amount of money can be dispersed into other areas that need funding in the district and can lead to less budget cuts.

Saving and feeding money back into the district can be helpful to support after school programs, specialized departments, or get more tools into

the subjects that are currently taught which is never a bad thing. It’s important to consider that not every district will max out on saving and according to Journalist Resource Paul Thompson estimated that most districts save 1-2% a year. While this seems like a lot less when considering how COVID-19 has thwarted districts financial plans, saving anything could help.

It must be established that losing one school day would mean adding time on to the other four because schools have to stay within a certain amount of instructional time. So while many may see the impacts a longer school day could have on kids it is not very compelling of an argument when you consider how many people are supporting this transition.

Many say that longer school days can lead to kids losing focus or becoming burnt out because of the length of their school days. But, when you think about it, a four-day school week is adding an extra day for students to recharge and do things they enjoy. So, while some researchers may assume that this could happen it is clear they did not speak to the students involved.

Switching to a four-day school week  is not something only kids who think they will get to be in school less enjoy parents, teachers and even now district and school leaders have had more positive opinions on a four-day school week. According to Education Weekly  94% of students in districts in Idaho, New Mexico, and Oklahoma are either fully or mostly satisfied with this schedule, 85% being fully satisfied and 9% being mostly satisfied. This proves that the longer days do not have much of an impact on students as a hefty majority of them prefer this schedule even with hours tacked on.

Not only that but parent satisfaction has been increasing, the same article states that 89% of parents of those same children are satisfied with their child’s new four-day school week, 73% being fully satisfied and 16% being partly satisfied. This may be because students are getting 3.5-4 more hours of

free time with a four-day school week which can be used for more family time. In addition, these parents have not expressed concern about extra hours their children have in school while proving it to not be much of an issue.

Finally, with a continuous teacher shortage looming, districts can have an easier time hiring and retaining teachers with a four-day week. In fact, CBS News talked to Dale Hearl, the superintendent of the Independence, MO school district who said “The number of teacher applications that we’ve received have gone up more than 4-fold,”

In another article by Upfront Scholastic the author spoke to Chris Fielder, the superintendent of school district 27J. They moved to a four-

day school week in 2018 after six attempts to increase local taxes to better pay teachers as they were paying $10,000 less than surrounding districts which caused them to have a teacher shortage. Moving to a four-day school week allowed the district to give teachers more time to get things done they needed to, this ending up boosting the morale for teachers.

Giving teachers that extra day off can improve job satisfaction, increase applications, and make it more likely for them to stay because of that benefit.  Now more than it is important to keep teachers happy because you will not find someone else to do the job.

After seeing the benefits of a four-day school week it’s obvious that they are all things that can create a better learning environment for everyone involved. The vast majority of districts have made the switch and never gone back because of the support it has gained. Seeing kids thrive and keeping teachers happy should be a district’s priority which is why a four-day school week may be something Darien could consider.