As state lawmakers look to close part of a $1.5 billion budget gap by possibly whacking four days from the school year, a small Pierce County school district may take a bold leap further.
How about eliminating more than 30 school days?
Eatonville school leaders have begun exploring a four-day school week with longer days in an attempt to save money and redirect the savings to other programs.
The move would net the 2,000-student district in the shadow of Mount Rainier about $200,000 a year from an operating budget of about $18 million, Eatonville Superintendent Rich Stewart estimates.
Most savings would come by cutting a day’s food service, utility costs and busing every week. And in the 460-square-mile district, transportation is a big-ticket item.
The savings would be used to expand the district’s all-day kindergarten programs.
“It isn’t just about the money,” said school board member Ronda Litzenberger. “The possibility of kindergarten for a full day could help a whole generation to move forward.”
But adding such flexibility to the school calendar would require a change in state law.
State Sen. Randi Becker, R-Eatonville, is working on the legislation.
A law passed in 2009 already allows four-day school weeks on a trial basis in a handful of financially strapped Washington school districts with fewer than 500 students.
Becker would expand the experiment to allow 20 districts with up to 2,200 students to try a shorter week.
She said she didn’t support the legislation that allowed the pilot program two years ago, but she has reconsidered.
“It’s a great opportunity for districts,” Becker said.
Stewart emphasizes that Eatonville officials have made no decisions for their five schools.
A committee of district employees, parents and students started studying the issue in the fall. A series of community meetings is planned for January. The school board isn’t expected to vote until at least April.
As proposed, each of the four school days in Eatonville would last about an hour longer than each school day in the current five-day week. The switch also would eliminate late-start days that now occur on most Wednesdays.
The net result, Stewart said, could mean a slight increase in instructional time.
Teachers would not see their pay shrink because they would teach at least the same number of hours per year – or slightly more.
Staff meetings and training sessions could occur on the weekday when there is no school, Stewart said.
But he and members of the school board realize that a change could create resistance among residents.
Working parents would have to find all-day child care on either a Monday or a Friday – whichever school day is eliminated. And pay for the district’s bus drivers, food servers and other hourly employees would be reduced by one day.
Two rural Eastern Washington districts with fewer than 150 students that are trying a four-day week presented information on their experiences at a statewide meeting of school officials in November.
The Paterson and Bickelton districts both reported positive effects, including lower absenteeism among both teachers and students. They speculate kids and teachers are able to schedule medical and other appointments on their Fridays off.
Becker said 21 states, including Oregon, already allow districts the option of running shorter school weeks.
Under her proposal, districts that fall under the size threshold would have to apply to the state Board of Education. They would have to show how they’d maintain instructional hours, how their schools would gain from making the change and how savings would be redirected to student learning.
Becker said her legislation differs from Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal to trim four days from the state-required 180-day school calendar, which is primarily aimed at saving money statewide. Gregoire also has proposed going to the ballot with a half-cent sales-tax increase to offset some education cuts.
Why limit the four-day week experiment to small districts like Eatonville?
“What we are going to do is measure, and see if there’s improvement across the board in student achievement,” Becker said. “You have to be able to take a look at that. You may not want to turn it loose until you make sure it works.”
Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635
debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com
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