POLK COUNTY, Iowa — Another Iowa school district is considering making the switch to a four-day school week.
The Saydel Community School District is exploring the idea of a shortened school week after the Saydel Calendar Committee brought the idea to the forefront last year.
In an email to Local 5, Superintendent Todd Martin says the district recently surveyed 151 individuals about the potential four-day school week. Of those 151 respondents, 15.2% indicated they would need additional child care, while 17.9% said they might need additional childcare.
"Saydel stakeholders indicated concerns about increased child care costs and availability of childcare with the four-day school week," Martin said in an email. "With that said, currently the district operates a child care program (Eagles Nest) that has the potential to be expanded for a minimal fee addressing the cost burden and availability issues."
Martin told Local 5 the Saydel Calendar Committee believes a shorter school week could:
- Help recruit and retain staff and students,
- Increase open enrollment,
- Improve culture and climate,
- Increase family time,
- Reduce stress for students and staff,
- Improve attendance,
- Improve learning conditions.
Still, Martin says there are "clear concerns" regarding the four-day school week, including daycare needs, food services and activities.
"Food insecurity is an area we are concerned about," Martin continued. "Although 79.6% of our [survey] respondents indicated that one day [without school meals] would not significantly impact their families, we still feel solutions would be necessary to address the remaining 20.4%."
To address the issue of food insecurity, Martin says they would lean on the district's existing food pantry while continuing to explore meal programs to "aid in the food insecurity gap."
If the district switched to a four-day school week, it would be the first in the Des Moines metro to make the shift. However, other Iowa districts, such as the Mormon Trail Community School District and Cardinal School District, are already operating under a four-day school week.
Martin said Saydel schools have researched other schools implementing the shortened school week while weighing the decision.
"In our research with other districts implementing the 4-day school week recruitment and retention of both students and staff improve, attendance increases significantly (hence achievement is positively impacted), and overall culture and climate improvement also impacts school safety and achievement," he said in an email.
While the Saydel Calendar Committee came up with the idea, the final decision belongs to the Saydel School Board.
Community members who are interested in providing feedback on the four-day school week can fill out this survey.