Nine school districts in Missouri will, for the first time this year, hold classes only four days per week.
The nine districts, serving more than 21,000 students, are part of a total of 155 districts operating on four-day weeks heading into the new school year. All told, those districts serve over 95,000 public school students, or more than 10% of the state’s total.
By far the largest of the new four-day week districts is the Independence School District, which made the switch last December in order to attract and retain staff.
Here are the Missouri school districts adopting four-day weeks for the first time during the 2023-2024 school year, along with the number of students they serve:
• Independence: 14,359 students.
• Morgan County: 1,297 students.
People are also reading…
• Crawford County: 1,291 students.
• Mountain View-Birch Tree: 1,254 students.
• Steelville: 978 students.
• Sparta: 745 students.
• Shelby County: 706 students.
• Fair Play: 324 students.
• Delta: 159 students.
Earlier this year, the Fox School District in Arnold floated the possibility of a four-day schedule in the future because of a projected budget deficit. Voters in the district on Tuesday rejected a property tax increase that would help alleviate the deficit.
Before the election, Superintendent Paul Fregeau said that if residents voted down the tax hike, the district would have to lay off more staff, cut academic and athletic programs and consider closing a school.
In a letter Thursday to families about the failed proposition, Fregeau did not say if discussions around a four-day week would be revisited.
“District administration will bring recommendations to the board of education to consider, but please know that we will continue to listen to our community’s feedback throughout the process,” Fregeau wrote.
Fox serves 10,600 students.
According to data collected by the Missouri State University College of Education, the 95,000 students in four-day week districts represent around 11% of Missouri’s over 861,000 K-12 students, up from just 8.4% last year.
These percentages are likely underestimated, because statewide student data includes charter school students, while four-day week district data only counts public school students.
Districts in the Ƶ region that have already switched to four-day weeks include:
• Warren County: 3,087 students.
• Sunrise in Jefferson County: 312 students.
• Crystal City in Jefferson County: 510 students.
To see a map of Missouri public school districts that operate four days per week, go to
Districts marked in green will do so for the first time this school year. You can hover over any district to see its name and student population.
Blythe Bernhard of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.