Bigfork Polls Community on Four-Day School Week
Superintendent Tom Stack said the district’s teachers expressed interest in “having a conversation” about the four-day week during this fall’s contract negotiations
By Denali Sagner
The Bigfork School District is polling teachers and community members on the possibility of a four-day school week after staff members floated the proposal during negotiations earlier this fall.
The survey is now open, and district administrators will present the results to the school board next Wednesday.
Superintendent Tom Stack said the district’s teachers “were interested in having a conversation” about the four-day week format, yet added that there are “a variety of different aspects that need to be looked at” if the district wants to consider the model.
There are currently five elementary school districts in Flathead County that operate on a four-day school week — Cayuse Prairie, Fair-Mont-Egan, Olney-Bissell, Pleasant Valley and West Glacier. If Bigfork were to switch to the schedule, it would become the first high school district in the county to do so.
In Montana, the four-day school week is common, with nearly a third of the state’s districts operating on the modified schedule.
While Montana schools historically adhered to a five-day week, the Montana Legislature in 2005 passed a bill changing attendance requirements from 180 days-per-year to 1,080 minimum aggregate hours of pupil instruction, opening up flexibility for districts.
Proponents of the four-day week praise the flexibility it gives teachers and families, especially in rural areas where access to school, doctors’ appointments and athletic tournaments can require multi-hour drives. The model has also allowed for additional professional development opportunities in some districts, and has helped schools court teachers amid a dire teacher shortage.
However, families and educators have expressed concerns that four-day weeks raise childcare and food access issues for families that rely on school for essential services, and diminish student outcomes.
A study published by University of Montana researchers last month found that student achievement and attendance in four-day districts were lower, raising what researchers called “a disturbing trend of education in Montana.”
Per the study, “data revealed that the [four-day] schedule has not been beneficial to most students in the state of Montana.”
The study’s authors recommended the Legislature reinstate the 180-day requirement for schools in order to buck declining achievement.
The Bigfork School Board will hear the results of the survey at their Nov. 13 school board meeting, which will take place at 5 p.m. in the Bigfork High School Library.