WARRENTON, Mo. (AP) - A school district in eastern Missouri has voted to adopt a four-day week schedule, joining a growing trend across the state.
The Warren County School District will begin holding classes Tuesday through Friday and extend the school day by 33 minutes for the 2019-20 school year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Supervision will still be made available for students on Mondays, with breakfast and lunch provided.
Superintendent Gregg Klinginsmith said the schedule change will help with teacher retention at the district 60 miles west of St. Louis. The district saw a 20 percent turnover rate last school year, with most teachers leaving for higher paying jobs in nearby Wentzville, he said.
"We don't have the resources to pay salaries as high as our neighbors to the east, so we thought we might try using time as an incentive for teachers to stay and work here," Klinginsmith said. "There's been a lot of studies about what correlates to high student achievement, and it comes down to teachers."
Klinginsmith said he wants the district to use the extra time on Mondays for physical and mental health services, as well as high school students tutoring younger students. He also hopes the new schedule will improve attendance rates, especially among high school students who may need to work.
Warren County, which serves 3,000 students, will be the largest district among the 25 currently using four-day schedules in Missouri, he said. The number of schools switching to four-day weeks is expected to increase to 35 next year, according to Klinginsmith.
"The four-day week seems to (be) becoming more popular, but I feel our district may have rushed the decision," said Jeffrey Napier, a parent in the district.
Hope Fick, a parent of four students in the district, said she looks forward to reducing her travel time to and from school.
"I do wonder how it will affect housing values in general," she said. "For me, it would be a selling point."