The hallways are empty, rooms are dark and chairs are on top of desks at Weeping Water High School on Mondays. Students do not arrive until Tuesday.
Weeping Water Public Schools in eastern Nebraska is one of a growing number of districts across the country that have switched to a four-day school week. The move is seen as a way to attract and retain teachers, who are increasingly in demand.
Kevin Reiman, the superintendent of Weeping Water Public Schools, said the decision to switch to a four-day week was made after the district struggled to hire teachers.
“We were at a financial disadvantage to get the best adults to come work with our kids because of our funding,” Reiman said. “We thought this would be a way to level the playing field.”
The switch to a four-day week has been successful in attracting teachers, Reiman said. The district has seen an increase in the number of applications for teaching positions, and teachers are now more likely to stay in the district for longer periods of time.
However, the four-day school week is not without its challenges. Reiman said the district has had to increase the length of the school day to make up for some of the fifth day. Because the district still loses some teaching time, teachers have had to make some changes to the curriculum to ensure that students are still learning the same amount of material each year.
The four-day school week is becoming increasingly popular across the country. According to the Four-Day School Week Policy group at Oregon State University, there are now over 850 school districts in the United States that have transitioned to the shorter week. In 2019, there were 650, according to the researchers.
It seems more school districts in metropolitan areas are considering switching to a four-day school week. Dr. Chris Fiedler, the superintendent of 27J Schools in Brighton, Colorado, said his district transitioned to the shorter school week in 2018 after struggling to hire teachers.
“We are an extremely fast growing district,” Fiedler said. “We hire between 150 and 200 new teachers a year. So it matters, right?”
Fiedler said the four-day school week has been a success for the district in terms of teacher recruitment.
“I don’t want anyone around us to make that move,” Fiedler said. “Because eventually, if everyone’s on a four-day week, that is not an advantage for us.”
As more urban schools show interest in the shortened school week as a recruitment tactic, it will not only create more competition in those highly populated areas, but it could also eliminate the incentive for teachers to go to those more rural schools.
Researchers in the Four-Day School Week Policy group said the shorter week also hurts student achievement.
