MISSOULA - Target Range School District is considering transitioning to a four-day school week but seems to have received some pushback from families.
Several parents from the district have voiced their concerns to us, so MTN News looked into some of the schools in Montana that have already switched to a four-day school week.
It seems for teachers, the schedule change is convenient, providing time for more collaboration and lesson planning. But for parents, the cost of extra childcare and the disruption of nighttime routines is leaving them leery of the change.
Potomac — a small school district that holds only a little over 100 students — has been running a short week for 10 years, and has found it to be a great schedule for their small community.
“I really like the four-day school week," said Potomac teacher Abby Stitt. "I think that having a longer day, allows for more continuous teaching, instead of having to cut off after a smaller chunk of time and then pick up the next day, it allows for more continuous teaching to talk about a subject, and it seems to stick with the kids a little better.”
Having a free Friday means Potomac teachers can use more time to work together, brainstorm and work through disciplinary issues.
“For the staff, I like that we have a Friday per month, and we get to come together in a PLC — professional learning community —and we get to collaborate with anything that we have," Potomac teacher Sarah Schmil explained.
"We can meet in smaller groups, we talk about each of our students, what kind of interventions they need, what other kind of extension supports they need, and so we can kind of really fine-tune our teaching, and that Friday provides us that opportunity," Schmil continued.
Potomac made the switch in 2012 after an administrator brought the idea from a previous district. He saw it as a way to bring in more place-based, or hands-on learning.
“Lengthening the school day could potentially provide more time for excursions, field trips, even guest speakers coming in and then the Friday portion, called explorers at the time, they could do some more hands-on, or placed-based learning in that regard," Schmil said.
Even though they are in a smaller district, parents in Potomac had the same initial concerns as many Target Range parents do.
The main concern was the extra cost and burden of Friday childcare but since the switch, Stitt says parents have adjusted.
“I think being in a smaller community, there are several families here that have grandparents or aunts and uncles nearby that they can rely on," she said. "There might also be stay-at-home parents that are able to take that on.”
The Target Range School District is much bigger, so their transition may look a lot different than Potomac's. Parents in the district are worried that their school is too big to switch to four days.
Out of the 175 Montana schools that have operated on a four-day week, Sidney Public Schools is one of the closest in size to Target Range. Kylie Young, a teacher with an elementary school in the district says size was not an issue.
"That was a big hesitation for our district when we decided to kind of look into this and that was a lot of people's argument is, you're a big district you can't do that," Young noted. "But it's like why? Like if small districts can do it big districts can do it, it's the same thing, you know, as long as you're covering the curriculum and all the needs of each student are being met, then what difference does it make."
Sidney School parents again had the same reservations about the change in childcare and routine, with Young saying there was a lot of pushback when they first considered making the switch.
"They were concerned that there would be slide as far as academics, which like I said, that hasn't been an issue," she said. "They were also having concerns about childcare for parents that do work on Fridays. However, we have a Boys and Girls Club here. And they have adjusted and they are now open all day on Fridays. I know a lot of parents actually reach out and have high school kids, [and] babysit their elementary kids on Fridays as well."
Target Range School Superintendent Dr. Heather Davis Schmidt mentioned she was also working to partner with the Boys and Girls Club here in Missoula to provide childcare on Fridays.
Another option for Friday childcare is a sort of extra educational program on Fridays. Sidney Schools has paraprofessionals come in on Fridays for extra hours, while Potomac has a free Friday school program for their students.
“We also do offer a Friday program, and it has kind of evolved over the years and it’s been funded through grants," Stitt said. "It’s not just a daycare, it’s an education-based Friday program that parents could use. It is an opportunity for families to have a place for their kids to go and still have an educational experience."
These options still may not be the right solution for Target Range.
Kyle Kehoe, a parent with two children at the independent Missoula County school district, doesn't see Friday programs as a perfect solution.
"I question, if you have a hundred kids, what’s the retention rate, how many faculty members or staff do you need per group of kids? Is it one per 10 one per 15? And then you got all these kids and at that point why would that be an acceptable solution, why wouldn’t we just continue with the five-day school week?" he said.
He added that daycare facilities are having the same staffing shortages as the school.
"You look at all these kids that are going to need that Friday care, based on their age, it’s going to max out all the facilities and they're having just the same retention and faculty staff issues as the school, so it’s kind of an imbalance there."
Potomac has received feedback that parents like to use the extra Fridays to spend extra time with their children. The same goes for Young, who says free Fridays mean she has more time with her own kids.
"As a teacher and as a parent, I really love that I have a day to spend time with my own kid rather than just being in the classroom constantly," she said.
However, Kehoe pointed out that not all parents are able to take off a Friday from work.
“And I’m not even thinking about myself, I’m thinking about the other families out there that might work a normal 9-5 they don’t have the same luxuries that a lot of people do in terms of flexibility in their job and whatnot," Keho explained. "I’m sure my family can make it work, however, looking at daycare, and childcare facilities, you got to pay for the full week, not just one day."
Another concern for Kehoe is after-school sports and how late these activities will have to be pushed back if the school day runs longer.
"If school is going an hour and a half longer, now does that mean school sports are going to bump? And then all of the things that aren’t associated with the school, like Striker soccer. My oldest is in gymnastics, that goes late already, is that going to get pushed?"
Overall, Kehoe says he is hesitant, but not completely closed off to the idea. He is remaining open-minded until he receives more information and discussion. He is attending a small group session this week and hopes it will lead to a productive conversation about the pros and cons.
“The learning, the faculty, the education they can receive — it truly is a terrific school to have your kids attend," he said about Target Range. "I don’t pretend to have all the answers, I just want as much information as possible, and one looming question I have is regardless of parent feedback, is it ultimately the school's decision, or do we have a say.”
Based on Kehoe's statements, and emails we have received, it seems parents are a bit hesitant about the idea.
Superintendent Dr. Davis Schmidt said the choice to consider a four-day week came mainly as a result of staffing issues.
“Staff recruitment and retention is the main driver of this," she noted. "And we’ve learned, particularly from our teacher's union that they’ve really been struggling in a variety of ways because we’ve been understaffed.”
In response to this, parents have pointed out the fact that Target Range accepts out-of-district students, and have suggested that it may be a large cause of staffing issues and shortages.
The final decision should be made at the March 13 board meeting.
“We’re still in the consideration phase right now. It will have to be approved by the local board of trustees," Dr. Davis Schmidt said.
