PIUTE COUNTY, Utah — Piute School District students could be heading to class one less day a week. It’s all part of the superintendent’s idea to make Fridays more productive.
“We felt like we were losing our students more than half of the time,” said superintendent Koby Willis. “They weren’t there.”
Willis said school sports interrupt two-thirds of Fridays throughout the whole school year. Fridays are currently half days.
“Our semifinal baseball game this year, there were only about twenty. Thirty students left in the school after everyone went to the baseball game,” he said.
The superintendent pitched his plan to parents, teachers, and admin in a town hall Thursday night.
“How many employees in the district, with taking a day off, is that going to cut their pay?” asked one parent.
“So if it’s good for an eighteen-year-old it’s also good for a six-year-old?” asked another parent.
“Instructionally, yeah,” answered Willis.
“Instructionally,” said that parent. “But developmentally, also the same?”
Willis hopes the schedule will lower student absences and create more time for work and internships.
Parents like Eugene King wonder how it would affect educators.
“Improved teacher attendance and connections with teachers improve [student] attendance,” he said.
The four-day week would make students’ days about half an hour longer. Lunch would be shortened by five minutes.
One of the district’s concerns is how it could change classroom performance.
“The research says you’re either going to stay about the same or you’re going to go down,” said Willis. “That’s naturally a concern if there’s not a lot of research saying you’re going to go up.”
Willis said 25 other schools in Utah are on the four-day week schedule and says satisfaction rates are high.
“If we feel like this isn’t the best solution for our students, then we won’t [go forward],” he said.
The superintended plans to host more town halls before making any formal steps.
