Would Rochester Consider a Four-Day School Week?

St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News)- A bill introduced in the Minnesota House would allow school districts to cut down the length of their school week without getting permission from the Minnesota Department of Education.

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Republican Rep. Dave Baker of Wilmar is sponsoring the bill. The legislation would not reduce the required hours of instruction over the course of the school year.

According to the Minnesota House of Representatives website, 26 school districts across Minnesota, including Rochester, offer some kind of flexible or non-traditional school year calendar offering. Nine of those districts hold classes four days per regular week instead of five.

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During a recent interview on KROC-AM’s Rochester Today, Superintendent Kent Pekel said implementing a four-day week for the Rochester Public School District is not something he would be interested in.

“For us in Rochester I don’t see any scenario in which the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks of a four day week,” Pekel said.

Pekel. Rochester Public Schools

Pekel said the four-day week does work for more rural school districts in communities that revolve around the school calendar. In Rochester Pekel said the four-day week would make the shortage of child care options worse for district families.

Pekel did say a student at John Marshall High School has lobbied to him via email and in person for a four-day school week.

A recap of a hearing held in the House Education Policy Committee last week that's posted on the Minnesota House of Representatives website says lawmakers heard from Patrick Walsh who is Superintendent for the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa School District, which has had a four-day school week for the past 11 years.

Walsh said the change did not result in substantial change in student test scores and attendance but said the shift did help the district’s bottom line. “Our cost savings is about 5% of our budget,” he said. “You think about 5% of your budget over 14 years, that’s about $3 million. It’s managed to save the district financially.”

Baker said of the bill, “I’m excited about this (bill), and I think we need to bring this to a larger scale. If others think this is right for them, this bill simply brings it to the local school boards for the decision and the process that it takes to consider this for their school district.”

Current state law requires the Minnesota Department of Education to approve requests for districts to implement a four-day schedule or flexible schedule. The department is no longer accepting applications from districts wishing to alter their schedules.

Adosh Unni, government relations director for the Department of Education expressed concerns to lawmakers about removing the department from the schedule setting process.

“The goal is to maintain a consistent statewide expectation around some of these services and access to resources that we provide for our students and families and educators,” Unni said.