Pe Ell School Officials Outline Potential Shift to Four-Day School Week

Dozens of Pe Ell residents ranging from grandparents to future students of the Pe Ell School District attended a special school board meeting Thursday night in the school gymnasium regarding a potential switch to a four-day school week next fall.

Some came prepared with questions regarding the impact a Monday-Thursday schedule would have on children who rely on school nutrition services for meals and on families who may struggle to arrange childcare on those suddenly unstructured Fridays. Others lobbed follow up questions at Principal Brandon Pontius and Superintendent Kyle MacDonald as they presented a detailed analysis of what it would mean for students, teachers, classified staff and the community at large.

Ultimately, the overarching message from the two administrators was that while research and anecdotal information from other school districts in Washington looked promising, answers to many of the questions require further introspection. Some of those answers would likely have to wait until after the district seeks approval from the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in the form of a waiver allowing it to hold fewer than 180 days of instruction per academic year. 

Pontius assured parents the district would not simply leave children out in the cold or without food on their extra day off. No action was taken at the meeting, but the Pe Ell School Board is expected to take a vote for or against the move in the next month or so.

“If it turns out we need to perform a needs assessment on something like childcare, we’ll take a closer look at that,” Pontius said following the meeting. “We’ll look at survey results, maybe put a Q and A up online, dig in deeper and go from there. The biggest piece of this for me is the impact of added professional development on the classroom, and I know that would be in a positive way.”

Pontius told the crowd that in his opinion, the benefits of shifting to a four-day school week outweigh the cons. School districts in Washington have to shown in their waiver applications how administering the required 1,027 instructional hours per academic year in fewer than 180 days will improve the economies and efficiencies of the district without adversely affecting student learning and staff performance.

Adopting a four-day school week would allow the K-12 operation to cut out 35 hours worth of early releases for professional development and parent-teacher conferences in favor of using one Friday per month for development purposes, more than doubling the time available to 70 hours each year.

Pontius singled out the difficulty of squeezing a full session of active shooter training into a half-day development period, as well as his belief that he could improve his own handling of the state-mandated Teacher and Principal Evaluation and Growth Program.

“I feel like right now, we’re just hitting the surface with that,” Pontius said. “I know myself that I could be doing better with more time.”

School days would lengthen by nearly an hour under the model preferred by Pontius, with all but one early release stricken from the schedule. The prospect of an earlier start time concerned many parents at the meeting, with some specifically questioning whether younger students would be able to handle the combination of an early start and longer schedule.

Additional concerns raised by attendees included how the change would impact the paychecks of workers who may work fewer hours and how athletes would get to school facilities for Friday practices or games without a school bus. Some questioned whether a four-day week would be a draw for students and teachers who opt to go elsewhere, or if it would be a deterrent.

One slide shown during the presentation estimated the district could save at least $30,000 per year in pay for substitute teachers. An estimated 20 percent drop in expenses incurred by nutrition services, transportation services and utility fees was also touted.

MacDonald stressed the move would not wind up saving the district a ton of money and that any changes to teacher or classified staff pay would be subject to discussions with their respective unions. A four-day week would not automatically mean school facilities remained closed. 

Potential Friday uses floated Thursday night included time for students to receive extra instructional time or participate in enrichment activities as well as time and space for extracurricular activities such as Skills USA or the Future Business Leaders of America groups to meet or go on field trips without missing class time.

It’s possible the gym or another portion of the facility could be used for childcare on Fridays, though unlikely the district would provide those services. MacFarland said he knew of a school in Idaho that attempted to do so, but it had a negative impact on the overall philosophy and morale of the school.

Pontius mentioned he had spoken with someone at a local church that runs a summer program about potentially adding a Friday program to its offerings.

“We’ve talked about having custodians having an extra day to clean without kids in the building and the ability for secretarial staff to catch up on the paperwork they can sometimes fall behind on during the week,” MacFarland said. “… I would say that I would want custodians to work on Fridays, because you have a whole school open. Right now, our discussion isn’t about saving money on people’s wages, but I haven’t spent a bunch of time on that. If it was something that would happen, I would dig deep into that.”

Adding seven minutes to each class period, as recommended by Pontius, would result in an additional 17.5 hours of instructional time per class. Elaine Hudson, a third-grade teacher in Pe Ell for more than a decade, said the added time along with removing the early release days would benefit her students as well as herself.

Hudson gave an example of how she never cuts down on math instruction on shortened days, because her students take standardized tests on the subject. Social studies and science lessons are most often the casualties in her classroom.

“I wouldn’t be giving up teaching time to educate myself,” Hudson said. “It would be upping the amount of (professional development) time without taking it away from the kids. … Just being able to teach all day would be huge. Trying something new is how you improve, and if it doesn’t work, you can always go back.”

Waivers given out by OSPI are for three years and require annual analysis of whether student learning has been negatively impacted. School districts can terminate a waiver prior to the three-year mark — Lyle School District east of Vancouver cut theirs short after one year of a four-day week.

State Reps. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, and Sharon Tomiko Santos, D-Seattle, co-sponsored a bill seeking to increase the number of waivers OSPI can hand out at one time. After some negotiation between the state House and Senate, the bill which passed both chambers doubles the number of available waivers from five to 10. 

Two remain earmarked for school districts with fewer than 150 students; only districts with fewer than 500 students are eligible to apply. Pontius told those in attendance that he reached out to Orcutt after attending a conference last fall in Portland where he learned more about the four-day model, but found out the three available OSPI slots were already spoken for.

The five school districts using the four-day model for the current academic year are in Douglas County, Benton County, Klickitat County and Pend Oreille County. Some districts in Western Washington have explored the idea, but none have followed through.

Members of the school board sat mostly silent as they observed the forum Thursday night. Board chair Colin Newell stated at the conclusion of the meeting that the board only began serious consideration of the possible change within the past few months.

Pe Ell officials would like to submit their waiver application in early May in order to give OSPI enough time to render a decision before the end of the school year. The school board is expected to hold a public work session on the matter at 6 p.m. on April 29.

Surveys are available to fill out online at peell.k12.wa.us or in the form of hard copies at the administrative offices. About a dozen people stayed after the meeting Thursday to fill them out at tables set up with school-issued laptops.

Responses are limited to one per family and must be submitted before 5 p.m. on Thursday. Brochures touting the benefits of a four-day school week are also available at the school.

“Hopefully by (April 29), we’ll be to get all the questions and survey responses together to sort through and focus on the difficult questions and how we can address those concerns,” Newell said.