{"id":247464,"date":"2025-05-26T13:07:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T19:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/?p=247464"},"modified":"2025-05-26T13:07:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T19:07:52","slug":"more-schools-are-adopting-a-4-day-school-week-one-montana-town-tried-to-fight-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2025\/05\/26\/more-schools-are-adopting-a-4-day-school-week-one-montana-town-tried-to-fight-it\/","title":{"rendered":"More schools are adopting a 4-day school week. One Montana town tried to fight it."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After years of putting it off, the Florence-Carlton school district in Ravalli County had to decide: Would it join the many smaller districts in the state with a four-day school week, or stick with a five-day schedule?<\/p>\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis story also appeared in The Hechinger Report<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

Until recently, some local education leaders thought the four-day week was a poor fit for the town of Florence. Staffing problems, including having to cut nine employees, <\/strong>the end of pandemic-era education funding, and the loss of 50 students this school year, however, put the district of about 730 students in a tight spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florence, a rural town in the southwestern part of the state 30 minutes from two districts that pay their teachers more, has dealt with staffing gaps that left positions nearly impossible to fill. Last school year, the high school principal ended up teaching some classes after a job posting for a math teacher received no applications for a semester and a science teacher left for a better-paying job nearby. A paraprofessional job has remained open the entire school year, Florence-Carlton Superintendent Todd Fiske said. A four-day school week might be a tool to recruit and retain staff, the school board reasoned, while offering families more time together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A community survey showed that of parents and community members who responded, 51% favored a shift to a four-day school week. The five-person board approved the model 3-to-1 in January, with one abstention. Starting this fall, the school day will be lengthened by 45 minutes, and schools will be closed on Fridays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most such shifts across other Montana districts have been made with little opposition, in Florence, pushback was fierce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were standing-room-only public meetings with community members threatening not to support future budget levies. Parents filed two formal complaints. One family sued. Some are transferring their children to districts miles away next year or will take on homeschooling out of concern their kids would otherwise fall behind.

Some board members were taken aback.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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Changes to four-day school week prompt childcare, hunger concerns<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t

As more schools in Montana \u2014 222 and counting \u2014 make the jump to four-day school weeks, childcare advocates are concerned about the condensed schedule\u2019s impact on families in a state that already has its fair share of struggles in terms of childcare access and affordability. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

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The rift in the community exposes a larger divide and uncertainty around the four-day school week,<\/strong> even as districts in Montana and across the country continue to march toward it. Nearly 40% of Montana districts have students attend school four days a week, and about 80% of the state\u2019s counties have at least one school operating on that schedule. In 2022 and 2023, 32 districts in the state adopted the model. Nationwide, <\/strong>the number of four-day districts in the U.S. is approaching 900<\/a> in 26 states; the model picked up steam after the pandemic. Districts continue to consider it a solution for addressing staffing shortages and financial challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Florence, parent Jason Breckenridge sued to stop the change, saying he was worried his kids would be \u201cguinea pigs.\u201d He felt the school district disregarded negative aspects of the shortened week. <\/strong>Virginia Mahn, a Florence-Carlton parent and graduate, brought a complaint against the school board, alleging district leaders failed to meet their required responsibility of ensuring a quality education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only things they showed as positives were anecdotal,\u201d Mahn said. \u201cIt\u2019d be an article from a superintendent that was like, \u2018This is great for us.\u2019 OK, so where\u2019s your data?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montana first allowed the four-day school week in 2005, replacing a requirement for a 180-day school year with a 1,080-hour minimum<\/a> to allow for \u201cgreater flexibility in the school calendar<\/a>.\u201d A three-part study from the University of Montana painted a grim picture<\/a> of the four-day school week\u2019s outcomes for both students and their schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on student testing data from 2008 to 2023, the study found that student learning suffered in the four-day school week. At the elementary level, reading proficiency was lower in the four-day districts by as much as 7 percentage points. For math proficiency, it was a difference of up to 14 percentage points. Including one-room schoolhouses, only 11 of the 141 four-day districts examined performed above the state averages or were improving academically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Montana Office of Public Instruction commissioned the study after the state saw a surge in four-day school weeks post-COVID and gave researchers access to data going back to when Montana schools first started making the switch. It\u2019s not just Montana: Four-day school weeks are growing across the nation, as is other research<\/a> that also shows negatives<\/a> in academic outcomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Staffing problems, a post-pandemic funding cliff and the loss of 50 students this school year put the Florence-Carlton school district of about 730 students in a tight spot, and it voted to adopt a shortened week.\n Credit:<\/span> Sarah Mosquera \/ The Hechinger Report<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I look at the news reporting and schools [that] are considering the four-day, there\u2019s all these reasons, pros and cons,\u201d said Bill McCaw, one of the authors of the study. \u201cStudent achievement is never part of the conversation. Day care, convenience, longer vacation \u2014 all that\u2019s being discussed. But not student achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Montana researchers also compared costs of the four-day school week and found them to be higher, as teacher salaries and payments for other services, like transportation, often remain the same or rise. Teacher retention was also higher under the five-day model \u2014 the researchers did not speculate why, but the districts that offer four-day weeks tend to be smaller; larger districts may offer more opportunities and professional growth, even without a three-day weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudent achievement is never part of the conversation. Day care, convenience, longer vacation \u2014 all that\u2019s being discussed. But not student achievement.\u201d <\/p>Bill McCaw, study co-author<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n<\/span>\n\n\n

The one clear positive for the four-day school week? Recruitment. When surveyed, more than 80% of new teachers preferred a shortened school week over a five-day week. Montana has the highest percentage of rural schools of any state in the nation<\/a>, at 75%, and the largest number of one-room schoolhouses. That translates to many small schools struggling to attract teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study wasn\u2019t the first to show declining academic results in Montana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, Tim Tharp, then a doctoral student at the University of Montana, assembled academic results of all of the state\u2019s schools from 2006, when the four-day school week was first adopted, to 2013. He found that students in four-day schools had lower test scores<\/a> than peers who attended school five days a week.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you look back at it logically, it only makes sense,\u201d said Tharp, now the chair of the Montana Board of Public Education and Richland County\u2019s superintendent of schools. \u201cAfter a certain period of time, you\u2019re losing days, weeks, months of instruction over the course of years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the decade that\u2019s passed, the number of Montana school districts that adopted the four-day week has nearly tripled. Tharp describes its adoption as a \u201crace to the minimum\u201d as schools adjust calendars to reach state-mandated hours, sometimes down to the minute. UM\u2019s latest study has served to deepen Tharp\u2019s conviction, supporting his earlier research findings and emboldening him to speak more pointedly about his belief that the four-day model has not proven successful in Montana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPersonally, the absolute best thing would be for the students to not only go 180 days, but [for the districts to] even consider making it longer,\u201d Tharp said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tharp concedes his opinion is unpopular among friends and colleagues. Even in his own Richland County, 12 of 15 public schools operate on the four-day model. <\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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What\u2019s fueling this year\u2019s rash of budget shortfalls in many Montana schools?<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t

Recent months have seen a rash of headlines across Montana regarding multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls in many of the state\u2019s largest public school districts. The specter of cuts to staff and resources for students looms large, and local officials are leveraging the harsh financial outlook in their appeals for additional taxpayer support as voters begin casting ballots in the May 7 school elections.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Alex Sakariassen<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cPersonally, the absolute best thing would be for the students to not only go 180 days, but [for the districts to] even consider making it longer.\u201d <\/p>Tim Tharp chair of the Montana Board of Public Education and Richland County superintendent of schools<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n<\/span>\n\n\n

Some states are trying to reduce or eliminate the adoption of four-day weeks. In Idaho, where two-thirds of public schools operate on the model, the state education board will begin requiring 152 instructional days<\/a> in addition to mandated hours next school year. Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield has said she has been an opponent of the four-day model for years<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In New Mexico, home to some of the nation\u2019s first four-day schools, the state education department tried in 2024 to require 180 days of school, with the governor voicing support for it as a way to counter persistent low academic scores<\/a>. The new rule was struck down<\/a>, though, after the state superintendents\u2019 association said the new policy didn\u2019t allow local flexibility. The case is still moving through the court system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Florence, Jason Breckenridge felt his only recourse was to sue the district to stop the change. Breckenridge spent part of a sunny spring break in a wood-paneled courtroom. He alleged the school board and district didn\u2019t follow public process and acted in bad faith as they moved to the four-day model, with little certainty as to how the district would fully implement it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was the only way we could get them to answer for the way the schools went about it,\u201d Breckenridge said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the vote, school board chair Roth explained his abstention from the vote on a four-day week by saying he thought the board was \u201ccramming this down our throat in record time\u201d without enough consideration for what he called <\/strong>ripple effects. He later defended the adoption process in court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parent Jason Breckenridge testifies in Ravalli County during a hearing requesting an injunction to stop the Florence-Carlton school district\u2019s plan to shift to a four-day school week. He alleged the district leadership didn\u2019t follow public process and acted in bad faith in regard to the switch. \n Credit:<\/span> Alex Mitchell \/ The Hechinger Report<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A county judge ultimately ruled for the district, saying trustees ensured adequate notice and allowed sufficient public participation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Breckenridge doesn\u2019t regret the lawsuit, he\u2019s still unsure exactly what the next school year will look like. He has put off starting his 4-year-old in kindergarten next year. Another son will attend school in Stevensville, 10 miles away from Florence, where class is in session five days a week, and his daughter will be homeschooled. It will be his family\u2019s first time trying homeschooling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an uncertain path, said Breckenridge\u2019s wife, Megan, but one the family feels is necessary. \u201cWe have three school-aged children with very different needs,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahn, who filed a complaint against the board, didn\u2019t succeed in getting the policy paused either. Now, she\u2019s among the parents trying to figure out what the fifth day of the week will look like, when schools will be closed. Some Montana districts, like nearby Victor, provide in-district daycare, while others collaborate with community organizations<\/a> to meet the need for child care. Florence\u2019s school board has taken no action to address the gaps created by the removal of a fifth day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahn\u2019s dad, a pastor at Florence-Carlton Community Church, is working on providing his church\u2019s space for child care next school year. Mahn bought a curriculum to supplement her kids\u2019 education, with her mother helping to provide instruction to her children on Fridays.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI parceled out the pros and cons and it\u2019s like, what am I most worried about? It\u2019s not so much the longer days. It\u2019s not so much that Friday off and I\u2019ll have to pay for day care. But it\u2019s more like the whole purpose of this school is their education,\u201d Mahn said. \u201cThat’s what I\u2019m most worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story about <\/em>the<\/em> <\/em>four-day school week<\/em><\/a> was produced by <\/em>The Hechinger Report<\/a>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for <\/em>the Hechinger newsletter<\/em><\/a>. It is republishable in adherence to The Heching Report\u2019s <\/em>republication terms<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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