Four-day school week? Careful what you wish for

This editorial appears in the Yakima Herald-Republic on Feb. 1, 2009.

A measure allowing school districts to embrace a four-day school week has a big plus. It gives districts the freedom to reconfigure the school week as administrators, teachers and parents see fit.

But that freedom may come at a heavy cost.

Sponsored by our local legislators from the 14th and 15th districts, Senate Bill 5112 and its mirror image in the other chamber, House Bill 1292, would permit the state Board of Education to offer waivers from the 180-day school-year edict. While the numbers of days may be changed, the waiver would not allow schools to fiddle with the mandatory instructional hours of 1,000 per student per school year.

Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, says he was approached by several smaller school districts seeking the waiver. The requests came during the height of the gas increases last summer when diesel fuel topped off at more than $4 a gallon.

One of the reasons to go to a four-day school week would be to reduce costs, especially for far-flung districts like Bickleton, which serves 105 students in an area of more than 500 square miles. That's a lot of diesel fuel that Bickleton could save by only busing students four days a week instead of five.

The reduced week does have its devotees in 17 other states, including Oregon and California.

Of course, the downside of this shortened week and longer school days gets steep very quickly. What about those students with single parents or with both parents working? In low-income communities like those in the Yakima Valley, this "free Friday" could be a real problem in terms of child care and for older students dealing with poor choices that lead to delinquency. Fridays could soon become an endless reprise of the movie "Home Alone" -- only with darker consequences for the child being left in solitude.

While extending the school day may be beneficial to those in science labs, students in other classes may lose their focus. Also, if a student or teacher misses a day during the shortened week, the loss in instructional time is considerable, roughly 20 percent, according to a bill analysis by a team of nonpartisan legislative staff members.

And if Friday is the day to be off from school, what happens to sporting events and extracurricular activities? Scheduling could become a nightmare.

Also, what about collective bargaining agreements? Even if teachers embrace the concept, what about the classified employees who might balk at the idea? What about reduced salaries for cafeteria workers and bus drivers?

Then there's the question of student safety during the winter. It's dark out there right now, and by extending the school day during those four days that kids are in classes, the chance of harm coming to those who trek home only increases.

Counting on cost savings may also be spurious.

If a school building is, indeed, shut down for a full day, proponents estimate a 20 percent savings in fuel, food, utilities and possibly wages of hourly staff.

However, that doesn't mean utility bills will drop like a rock. In fact, if the school year needs to be extended into the summer, as may be the case, air-conditioning costs will probably eat up what savings are gained by cranking down the thermostats in the colder months.

Yes, giving school districts the freedom to choose is a worthy goal. But we don't see many of the state's nearly 300 districts jumping on board.

And one cautionary note to the smaller, rural districts like Bickleton: If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Barbara Serrano, Spencer Hatton and Karen Troianello.

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