Education Law

The summer of discontent

BoardBuzz really isn't trying to dwell on the rising price of...everything. We know we've covered this high-fuel-prices, high-food-prices, tight-budgets, budget-cutting-strategies-story a few times this summer, but the four-day school week story keeps popping up all over the country. And while we'd hesitate to say there is a trend in districts adopting four-day weeks, the media seems rather fixated on it. Expect to see even more as we head into the "Back to School" stories.

Here's what we know: districts in about 16 states are on the four-day schedule and most have been for a number of years, not just in response to the recent sky high cost of fuel. Most of the districts are rural where buses have much greater distances to travel. Want to know more? Check out what the Center for Public Education has dug up on this.

Around the country, one New York district is trying it for employees during the summer; it is under discussion by some Indiana school districts, municipalities and businesses; an Arizona school district is considering joining the ranks of others; and, in Utah, state employees will work 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and be off on Fridays starting next month as a means to save on energy costs.

We're eager to know what you think. The move, for schools, city or state governments or even private companies raises lots of issues. Weigh in via our comment link.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on July 23, 2008 (boomark / email).