JEFFERSON COUNTY — The Fox School District in Arnold is again floating the possibility of moving to a four-day week to save costs, one year after postponing the discussion.
The district has projected future budget shortfalls as a result of declining enrollment and the end of pandemic relief funds. Next fall, Fox could become the second-largest school district in Missouri to switch to a condensed schedule because of budget woes or staffing shortages.
A will be held Monday featuring speaker Jon Turner, associate professor at Missouri State University and a leading researcher on the four-day week in education.
“The potential transition to a four-day week is not a decision that we take lightly, so we welcome your input,†Fox Superintendent Paul Fregeau wrote in an invitation to families. “It is an option that would provide the Fox C-6 School District with sustainable budget savings year after year.â€
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In early 2023, Fregeau first said the district should consider a shortened week among other budget cuts including layoffs. The proposal was shelved pending a property tax increase that voters rejected in August.
In Missouri, students have to attend school a total of 1,044 hours each year. Most districts on a short week extend the length of the school day to make up the hours.
There are 168 school districts statewide — nearly one-third — on a four-day schedule, including Crystal City, Grandview and Sunrise in Jefferson County. Warren County schools also made the switch in 2019.
Independence, with about 14,000 students, dropped the fifth day last fall and is the only district with a student population larger than Fox’s 10,500 to have made the switch. Most of the others are smaller districts in rural areas.
The moves have generally been well-received by parents and school staff after switching to a four-day schedule. Some districts offer day care, tutoring or other enrichment programs on the fifth day. Enrollment in Independence has been virtually unchanged after making the switch.
In Fox, the decision is expected to save $1 million annually, Fregeau has said. The district’s enrollment in the past year dropped by more than 200 students or 2% — one of the fastest rates of decline in the state.
Attendance rates, which count toward state funding, have also worsened since the pandemic started. Last year, 22% of Fox students were chronically absent, compared with 12% in 2019.
Missouri legislators have been unsuccessful at slowing the trend toward four-day weeks, which became an option under state law in 2011.
The Senate’s Empowering Missouri Parents and Children Committee held a hearing last week on a plan by state Sen. Doug Beck, D-south ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, that would require certain school districts to hold elections before going to a four-day schedule.
School districts located in a charter county, such as ºüÀêÊÓƵ, St. Charles and Jefferson counties, or serving a city with more than 30,000 residents, would need voter approval to shorten weeks starting in 2025.
But Beck’s proposal goes even further. He said four-day weeks have burdened families and “a lot of times the school districts just impose it, and half the families don’t even know it†was going to happen.
“We’re not in a four-day society yet. If we were in a four-day society, maybe we wouldn’t have this conversation,†Beck said.
He says he is taking a “carrot†rather than a “stick†approach to incentivize keeping a full school week.
Under Beck’s plan, five-day districts or charter schools would see an additional 2% of the school’s state aid allotment from the previous year, which would be earmarked for teacher pay increases. Districts that are in session for at least 175 days would also be allowed to set start dates earlier in August than current law allows.
Current law, approved in 2019, prevents K-12 districts from starting earlier than 14 days before the first Monday in September. The measure pitted members of the tourism industry, who wanted to extend the summer vacation season, against school superintendents.
For the upcoming school year, the change means schools aren’t allowed to open earlier than Aug. 19.
The legislation is .