KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Starting after Labor Day, the Independence School District will become the largest school system in the state to try a four-day school week, a move that officials say has already helped fix the district’s teacher shortage.
For the first time in years, all teaching positions have been filled across the Independence School District, superintendent Dale Herl said. In past years, the district combined classes or reduced elective offerings because of teacher shortages, but now every course is available, he said.
More than four times as many people applied for teaching positions in Independence for this school year compared to the same period the previous year. The shortened weeks also helped attract more experienced teachers to apply for open positions, Herl said.
Due to the change, students and teachers typically won’t have classes on Mondays, except for the first two weeks of school and around holidays like Thanksgiving, when students will have instructional time on Monday ahead of the break later in the week.
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The change decreased the number of instructional days from 170 to 155.
To compensate, another 35 minutes was added on to each school day, so that students have around the same amount of instructional hours as in previous years.
“When people hear four-day work week or four-day instructional week, a lot of times they think you’re losing 20% of instructional time, and that’s really not the case with us,” Herl said.
When the school board voted on the scheduling change last December, some parents expressed worries about the costs of additional child care and transportation during the work week, as well as possible impacts on student achievement. One board member pushed for another survey to be sent out to families once more information about the plan was available, but the board voted 6-1 to adopt the new schedule.
‘Gone really smoothly’
With around 14,000 students, Independence is the largest district in the state and the first in the metro area to adopt the reduced school week. The majority of school districts trying the shorter schedule are in smaller, more rural areas. However, in all, more than a quarter of Missouri school districts now have the shorter school week.
On Mondays, the district will host clubs, sports and tutoring for all students as well as the Learning League, an invite-only program for students who are behind their peers to help them get back on track for their grade level. High school students have also enrolled in all spots available for Monday dual enrollment courses through the Metropolitan Community College.
Bussing will only be provided on Mondays for students in the Learning League.
Teachers have one “float day” in the school year, a Monday that they must work either helping with a club, the Learning League or another activity. Outside of the one required day, teachers can earn additional pay for any other enrichment activities they assist with.
Professional development days will also be moved from Fridays to Mondays throughout the school year.
Before and after school child care is still offered from Tuesday to Friday, and all-day child care is also available on Mondays for a reduced fee of $30 a day. Free breakfast and lunch will also be available on Mondays for students and staff.
To assess the new schedule, Herl said the district will examine student and employee attendance rates, discipline incidents and academic achievement.
“Honestly, it has gone really smoothly,” Herl said. “There were a lot of questions initially, but we put a ton of information out. … We really tried to over-communicate and make sure people knew what was occurring.”
In January, Missouri Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven told the state board that the growing number of districts adopting four-day weeks gave her “great pause.”
She noted questions remain about whether data exists that shows such changes move students in the direction of greater student achievement. She also said she worries if too many districts adopt the shorter week, it will no longer be an effective recruitment strategy.
Still, in contrast, Johnson County is starting the school year with hundreds of positions unfilled, one of many districts in the region managing a record number of vacancies, especially in special education.
Labor shortages continue to plague many school districts in Kansas and Missouri this year, as educators leave their jobs at higher rates and fewer applicants seek to replace them.
The Star’s Sarah Ritter contributed to this report.