JEFFERSON COUNTY — Unlike other school districts that have considered a four-day week to attract teachers, the Fox School District in Arnold is looking to save money.
Due to declining enrollment, the district will be financially stressed by 2027, Superintendent Paul Fregeau said Wednesday at a community meeting to discuss the potential switch to a shortened school week. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education defines financially stressed as carrying a fund balance below 3% of the operating budget, a distinction that comes with increased state oversight.
The four-day week would shave 2% to 3% off the budget each year, Fregeau said, as part of a “strategy to right-size our budget.”
In the second public meeting this year on the topic, Fox invited Dale Herl, superintendent of the Independence School District to talk about their move from five to four days. Independence, with 14,000 students, last fall became the largest among the 168 mostly rural districts in Missouri that have adopted the practice.
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For Independence, the four-day week was “100% driven around our ability to recruit and retain staff members,” Herl said via videoconference. The move has proven successful, with a 360% increase in applications for teaching positions in the district and very few vacancies.
The district in suburban Kansas City dropped 15 Mondays from the calendar, bringing total instructional days for students from 170 to 155. Each school day is 35 minutes longer to make up the difference.
Student attendance is up 2% and teacher absences are down 16%. Enrollment increased by almost 200 students.
“Whenever I look at how it’s gone this year, it’s gone better honestly than I expected,” Herl said. “Since the school year started, I’ve had one negative email regarding the four-day week. I get more complaints than that about where somebody’s bus stop is or what we had for school lunch.”
In most districts the cost savings of a four-day week are negligible because salaries and benefits, the largest budget items, stay the same.
The shortened week actually costs more money in Independence because of the programming offered on open Mondays. All students can receive tutoring and participate in various clubs on Mondays. High school students can take courses for credit through local colleges.
But the Monday tutoring and clubs are not well attended, which has been the biggest disappointment for district leaders, Herl said. There were 2,500 struggling students invited to intensive tutoring, and only 10% show up each week.
“The reality is, kind of like summertime or spring break, parents figure it out,” Herl said. “They find what works best for their children and they don’t send their children to the activities on Mondays.”
Fox would become the second largest district, with 10,500 students, to start a four-day week and the fourth in Jefferson County behind Crystal City, Grandview and Sunrise. Fregeau first floated the idea for Fox in early 2023 among other potential budget cuts. The proposal was shelved pending a property tax increase that voters ended up rejecting in August.
This year the district’s enrollment dropped by more than 200 students or 2% — one of the fastest rates of decline in the state. Enrollment has steadily fallen since hitting a high of 12,500 in 2011.
Sarah Lurkins of Arnold said she enrolled her 6-year-old in private school instead of Rockport Heights Elementary this year because of the district’s ongoing discussion about four-day weeks.
Lurkins said her biggest concern is the long-term impact on students’ social and academic development with a shorter week.
“It’s not necessarily the inconvenience that it poses to parents that’s my issue,” Lurkins said. “Why should the children ultimately be affected by decisions that are made by adults, including mismanagement of funding?”
Most of the commentary on Fox’s social media pages regarding a four-day week has been negative. One high school teacher said there are concerns about students who rely on free meals, medical care and special education in schools five days a week. Other parents and teachers think the district is trying to enact a four-day week ahead of a proposed bill that would require voter approval.
The plan by state Sen. Doug Beck, D-south Ƶ County, calls for school districts in larger counties including Jefferson to hold elections before adopting shorter weeks starting in 2025. The bill passed out of committee and could be discussed on the floor of the Missouri Senate in the next week.
The bill would also give an additional 2% of state funding to districts that keep a five-day schedule. The extra funds would be earmarked for teacher raises.
The legislation is Sena